Even in the inky darkness, there was no mistaking the exuberant mix of sheer joy, relief and final deliverance for Skipper MACIF duo Charlotte Yven and Lois Berrehar when they crossed the finish line off Gustavia, Saint Barths, in the small hours of this Friday morning to end a prolonged, intense three-cornered battle with victory in the Transat Paprec double handed race from Concarneau.

At the end of this 16th running of this renowned two-handed one-design race to the French West Indies, which was first contested in 1992, the pair triumphed by just 16 minutes after 18 days and 9 hours 1 minute of racing. This Transat Paprec is the first edition exclusively for 'mixed doubles' following an initiative to deliver a pathway for more female racers to build short-handed ocean racing experience.

The top three raced through the final days and nights of the course no more than 2.5 miles apart.

Provisional final standings before jury
1. Skipper MACIF (Lois Berrehar/Charlotte Yven) finish time 06:03:33hrs UTC, elapsed time 18 days 19hrs 01min 35secs
2. Region Bretagne-CMB Performance (Gaston Morvan/Anne-Claire Le Berre) 06:20:06hrs, 18d19h18m06s
3. Mutuelle Bleue ( Corentin Horeau/Pauline Courtois) 07:02:30hrs 18d20h00m30s
4. Region Normandie (Guillaume Pirouelle/Sophie Faguet) 09:24:10hrs 18d22h22m10s
5. Cap Ingelec (Camille Bertel/Pierre Leboucher) 10:08:45hrs 18d23h06m45s