July 11 Update: COWES, England

Laurent Pagès stood dockside in Cowes and let out a sigh. Ça va bien, merci, he answered, affirming that all was well after Teasing Machine finished the Transatlantic Race 2019. But it was his sigh that told the story of the crew's languid final days in the 2,970-nautical-mile race.

"The last five days were really tough. Being stuck in high pressure, which was moving with us, there was no way to deal with it," said Pagèsè, the project manager for Eric De Turckheim's Nivelt/Muratet 54-footer. "We had a great atmosphere on board. Teasing Machine is an awesome boat, and the spirit among the crew was very uplifting."

"We're physically fit, maybe mentally exhausted, but that's what it is after a long race. Everything is okay," said De Turckheim, the 68-year-old owner from Geneva, Switzerland. "It wasn't easy because the weather was not kind with us. All the way was really complex weather systems right from the start. I've done three trans-Atlantics and they were all totally unusual. I've never had a good race, downwind all the way."

Teasing Machine finished the Transatlantic Race today at 1335:34 UTC for an elapsed time of 15 days, 22 hours, 15 minutes and 34 seconds. Fourth in line honors, Teasing Machine is projected to place third in IRC 2. The Teasing Machine crew included Quentin Bouchacourt (Lorient, France), Tony Brochet (La Rochelle, France), Bertrand Castelnerac (Lorient, France), De Turckheim (Geneva, Switzerland), Laurent Mahy (Morbihan, France), Jean Baptiste Morin (La Rochelle, France), Jean Luc Nelias (Quimper, France), Gabriele Olivo (Belluno, Italy), Pagès (Sainte Marie de Re, France), Emmanuel Supiot (Saint Rogatien, France) and Jerome Teillet (Le Pradet, France).

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Image: Teasing Machine finishes in fourth line honours - Photo by Rick Tomlinson/rick-tomlinson.com