Hello Newport! Spirit of Hungary has arrived in Newport after 19 days of sailing across the Atlantic Ocean all the way from the birth city of the legendary Vendée Globe race: Les Sables d’Olonne, France 🙂 Not so soon with the relaxing! Nándor plans to start his single-handed qualification transat back to Les Sables in 3 days!

After the Spirit of Hungary’s arrival in Newport, Nándor Fa gave us a short phone call. The Hungarian Imoca60 has completed the transatlantic training route within 19 days, which is approximately what he’d initially planned (18 days).

Nandor Fa arriving to Newport RI on the Spirit of Hungary photo©BillyBlack/ SOH

The SOH arrived in the bay of Newport in beautiful clear and sunny weather. Nándor is happy with the performance of the renewed boat, which has proved to work well under its new mast, new rig and new sails. The “machine” behaved well, they were able to test many different sail combinations and adjustments along the transat. Karcsi and Patrick were a great company. Patrick Viau was of  exceptional help in digital adjustments, and was also a good mate outside in both strong and light winds. According to the skipper it wasn’t an easy ride, the ever-changing and sometimes unpredictable weather conditions had put him and the crew to proof.

Nándor has just touched land but he’s already planning to start for Europe soon. The Hungarian skipper is planning to stay only three days in the USA, which is just enough time for a few checks, adjustments, necessary repairs and grocery shopping for himself. After that, he continues his transatlantic qualification back to France, single-handed. The target destination is once more the birth city of the Vendée Globe race: Les Sables d’Olonne.