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BG Group wins first Transat leg

BG Group

BOSTON, Massachusetts -- The BG Group has won the first leg of the Challenge Transat 2002, beating Logica to the finish at Boston Harbour by just eight minutes.

BG crossed the finish line in Boston Harbour on Friday at 0646 GMT (2:46 a.m. local time), and Logica crossed it at 0654 GMT, after having led the race for much of its latter stages.

The final hours of the 3,000-mile, three-week-long leg of the race were marked by drama and danger as hurricane Gustav swept the fleet with 75 mile-per-hour winds and 25-foot waves.

Although these conditions may have seemed hair-raising for the 16 amateur crewmembers that were paying for the transatlantic experience, BG Group seemed to relish the conditions.

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BG Group skipper John Burfitt said: "I've been through hurricane force winds before with challenge yachts so am not too concerned, these boats are very tough and seaworthy."

The other boats are also sailing, with Vail Williams in third place, Spirit of Hong Kong in fourth, Team SpirIT in fifth and BP Explorer in sixth.

Crews are sailing in the same Rob Humphreys designed 22-metre (72ft) steel yachts that the Challenge Business used for the last BT Global Challenge in 2000.

The Challenge Business was set up by Sir Chay Bylth in 1988 -- inspired by his own personal experience as the first solo yachtsman to sail "the wrong way" around the world -- as way for amateur crews and even complete novices to experience ocean racing.

The next 32,000-mile Global Challenge, that takes the boats around the world against the prevailing winds and currents, is scheduled for 2004.

The inaugural Challenge Transat 2002 has two legs, one from Southampton, England to Boston, Massachusetts and then back to Southampton.

The return race to Southampton starts from Boston on September 29.