Zaraffa Wins IRC Class 3 in the 2011 Transatlantic Race

Congratulations to Skip Sheldon and the crew of the RP65 Zaraffa on winning IRC Class 3 of the 2011 28th Transatlantic Race fron Newport RI, USA to Lizard Point, UK.

Zaraffa, a Reichel/Pugh 65, passed the Lizard to finish the Transatlantic Race 2011 with skipper Huntigton "Skip" Sheldon (Shelburne, Vt.), who, at age 80, is believed to be the oldest competitor in the race.

Zaraffa completed the 2,975 nautical mile course in less than 12 days winning IRC Class 3 by a handsome margin, Notably, on Zaraffa, Skip Sheldon took both line honors and the fleet handicap honors in the 2003 Daimler Chrysler North Atlantic Challenge, which also started in Newport, but finished in Hamburg, Germany [with a course time of 13 days, 15 hours, 7 minutes and 28 seconds].

Skip donated the yacht a few years ago to the U.S. Naval Academy (Annapolis, Md.) and chartered it back from this Transatlantic Race. Zaraffa was custom designed for Skip, built by New England Boatworks and launched in April 2000.