Drumbeat and Tiara, one second apart at the Lizard

After almost 3,000 miles of racing, Drumbeat and Tiara passed the Lizard gate, off Cornwall, one second apart.

Two yachts, one designer

Drumbeat is a 53-metre ketch. Tiara is a 54.3-metre sloop. Ed Dubois designed them both and Alloy Yachts built them in New Zealand. They were then among the largest sailing yachts in the world. Yachting World judged such a transatlantic duel to be without precedent.

The 2005 Rolex Transatlantic Challenge marked the centenary of the 1905 race for the Emperor's Cup. It drew 21 entries and started on 22 May near the Ambrose Light, off New York. The course ran through a gate at the Lizard to a finish off the Needles, on the Isle of Wight.

Ed Dubois raced aboard. Australian navigator Adrienne Cahalan handled the navigation. Sail-World reported a planned race crew of 18 to 20, divided into three watches. Her hydraulic winches and furling systems also allowed six people to handle her.

Six miles in three hours

The start was so calm that one three-hour watch covered only six miles. Then, in mid-Atlantic, the wind rose to 50 knots.

Twenty-eight hours without a mainsail

Drumbeat broke two halyards and two batten pockets. As the mainsail came down, the headboard tore away. The crew reattached the headboard at sea and bolted the battens through the sail.

Those 28 hours or so without a mainsail turned a 150-mile lead over Tiara into a 150-mile deficit.

Ed Dubois reported only one case of seasickness on board. The crew went on showering and shaving. “We had proper roast dinners during the gale,” he told Yachting World.

One second, then fifty-five minutes

Drumbeat took a more northerly route and passed north of the Isles of Scilly. At the Lizard, only a second separated the two yachts.

In the Channel, a spinnaker problem on Tiara handed Drumbeat the advantage. She held a 20-mile lead through a wind shift. On 3 June 2005, she crossed the finish line off the Needles after 11 days, 20 hours, 10 minutes and 50 seconds of racing, 55 minutes ahead of Tiara.

Drumbeat won her class, Performance Cruising 1, on corrected time, 4 hours and 45 minutes ahead of Tiara. Mari-Cha IV took line honours and the transatlantic record.