Sharp and Santurde Set Normandy Channel Race Record

Class 40 Imerys tackles the uniquely challenging offshore race, powered by renewable energy and North 3Di sails

On Friday, May 19th, Phil Sharp and Pablo Santurde won the Normandy Channel Race, crossing a line off of Hermanville in the wee hours of the morning. Not only did the pair sail their Class 40 Imerys on renewable energy alone, they finished the race in record time to set a new benchmark: 4 days, 11 hours 15 minutes and 50 seconds.

Originating in 2010, the Normandy Channel Race is a popular double-handed offshore challenge in France. The course is varied and challenging, covering 1,000 offshore miles between the English Channel and the Celtic Sea as well as coastal portions off of France, the United Kingdom and Ireland. Challenging navigation zones brought on tight competition throughout the week-long journey, forcing sailors to be relentless and maintain focus to make sound tactical decisions.

Imerys crossed the line just under three hours ahead of Jeand Galfione and Nicolas Ttroussel in 2nd place on Serenis Consulting, also powered by North. The following seven boats all finished in a busy two-hour span between 6:17 am – 8:19 am. Upon reaching the dock, lots of wide smiles from sailors and spectators alike gave the great feeling of a race sailed and finished well, with plenty of challenges in between.

Phil began working with the North Sails team based in the UK before his entry in the Quebec – St Malo Race in 2016. A new mainsail was delivered on short notice, the same 3Di ENDURANCE main Phil and Pablo had up when they won the race this week. In the past year, Phil has expanded the inventory on Imerys to include a North Sails 3Di ENDURANCE J1, NPL SPORT J2, and a code zero, A6 and code 5.

“Massive congratulations to Phil Sharp and Pablo Santurde on winning the highly competitive Normandy Channel Race on their Class 40 Imerys, on behalf of all of us at North Sails. It has been a pleasure to work on the sails for Imerys and collaborate with Phil on maximizing the boat’s performance.” – Jeremy Smart, North Sails in Gosport, UK