American Jonathan McKee Wins the First Leg of the Mini
Pavois International Singlehanded Yacht Race
May 21, 2003
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Photo
Courtesy of Bernard Suzzarini
After
more than two days of battling relentless 25 knot winds
and severe waves, American Jonathan McKee wins the Mini
Pavois international race for solo sailors (stage one
of the Mini-Bulwark). In his very first single handed
race aboard the popular Mini 6.50 meter class boats, Jonathan
McKee surfed "Team McLube" to victory. Once surfing conditions
kicked in, Jonathan stretched to an impressive 5 hour
lead by the time he reached the finish line in Portsmouth.
From the start, this former Olympic champion, Los Angeles
(1984) in Flying Dutchman, was among the leaders. He controlled
his closest rivals perfectly, Spaniard Jaume Mumbru second
of the stage and the Frenchman David Raison (3), before
accelerating during the night. "One night when nobody
could close the distance, explains Raison. We were under
spinnaker. McKee is already an excellent sailor and he
has one of the best boats in the fleet, his victory is
not astonishing”
His monoshell is non other than that of Brian Thompson,
second of the second stage of last Minis. This time, his
association with McKee’s "TEAM Mc Lube" caused even more
damage. Mumbru, who finished second, outpaced Raison by
just 25 minutes. However, these two men yielded more than
five hours to McKee.
The American arrived at the small day, in the port of
Portsmouth and quickly dispatched with his personal businesses,
before sinking into his hotel room to recover. David Raison
acknowledges not to have slept more than four hours in
15 minute naps since the departing Small rock, Jonathan
could hardly have rested more.
Jonathan McKee discovered sailing at the age of 7 years.
Since then, he has gone on to claim fame on all types
of boats. World Champion in Flying Dutchman, at 23 years,
after only ten months of experimentation in the boat,
then Olympic champion, he then launches out in the 49er
class and asserts himself successively in the Pacific
Cup in ’97 and the Great Prices of Italy and Finland in
2000, before capturing the world title in 2001.
He embarked as a team-member for Ellen McArthur on Kingfisher
during the EDS Challenge, before leaving for Auckland
in 2002 and the American challenge "Oneworld". During
this last adventure, OneWorld finished in semi-final of
the Louis Vuitton Cup. Jonathan then decides to launch
out in the 6.50 class in 2003 with an acknowledged goal:
to take part in the next Transatlantic race 6,50 Charente-Maritime/Salvador
de Bahia.
POSITIONS PROTO (Mini Bulwark) Pos, Boat Name, Skipper,
Arrival Time, Lat Boat Long
1/N° 247: TEAM MC LUBE - Jonathan Mc Kee, Arrived 21/05/03
at 04H 11' 00 '' YOU
2/N° 385: PORT OF BARCELONA - Jaume Mumbru, Arrived 21/05/03
at 09H 13' 36' ' YOU
3/N° 440: LIQUID RAY - David Raison, Arrived 21/05/03
at 09H 38' 53' ' YOU
4/N° 250: GROUP TEMPORARY SIM WORK - Brieuc Maisonneuve,
Arrivé the 21/05/03 at 13H 34' 07' ' YOU
5/N° 269: SOLE OF Wind Lionel Rubio de Teran, Arrived
at the 21/05/03 with 13H 36' 46' ' YOU
6/N° 426: POGO 2 Erwan Tymen, Arrived 21/05/03 at 14H
01' 43' ' YOU
7/N° 198: PARISIAN POSTERS GROUP - Antoine Cornic, Arrived
21/05/03 at 14H 17' 51' ' YOU
8/N° 260: GOOD FOOT GOOD EYE - Richard Mérigeaux, Arrived
21/05/03 at 14H 20' 47' ' YOU
9/N° 393: THE TOM CREAN - Cian Mac Carthy, Arrived 21/05/03
at 14H 55' 00' ' YOU
Translated
from www.seasailsurf.com
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