Sailing: Golding secures first major title in record style

The long wait is over and Britain's Mike Golding was able to drink deeply from the fountain of success yesterday when he won the 2,800-mile Transat from Plymouth to Boston in fine style. He also smashed the 12-year record by more than two days.

The long wait is over and Britain's Mike Golding was able to drink deeply from the fountain of success yesterday when he won the 2,800-mile Transat from Plymouth to Boston in fine style. He also smashed the 12-year record by more than two days.

This was the first major triumph for the south-coast based 43-year old from Norfolk. He set a time yesterday of 12 days 15hrs 8min 8sec to beat by 48hrs 42min the previous best of 14 days 16 hrs 1 min set by Yves Parlier in 1992.

Second was Dominique Wavre of Switzerland in Temenos and third, making his solo debut, the British-based New Zealander Mike Sanderson, taking over at the helm of Emma Richards' Pindar.

Despite being becalmed after becoming entangled in fishing nets the Australian Nick Moloney, in Skandia, in the last 100 miles was holding off any late charge by Conrad Humphreys, nearly 100 miles astern in Hellomoto.

A salvage tug has found and hooked up with the overturned hull of Bernard Stamm's Armor Lux. The rig will first be cut away before the yacht is towed back to Newfoundland for shipping back to Europe. The wavepiercer Ocean Alchimiste has found Vincent Riou's PRB and is towing the dismasted yacht back to Brittany, and Pindar support vessel The Hatherleigh is close to linking with Jean-Pierre Dick's Virbac.