Mike Birch 1931-2022

One of offshore racing's most celebrated skippers, Mike Birch, has died aged 90.

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Legendary Canadian skipper Mike Birch won the first edition of the Route du Rhum in 1978, crossing the finish line on the diminutive 39ft yellow trimaran Olympus Photo just 98 seconds ahead of his nearest rival Michel Malinovsky’s mighty 21m yacht Kriter V.

Birch’s win was a catalyst to a revolution in offshore sailing, the reverberations of which are still being felt today: cast iron proof that – in the right hands – multihulls could be as fast, or faster, than monohulls over long ocean crossings.