Of Canadian origin, Mike Kirsch was born on November 1, 1931 in Vancouver. This former cowboy and rodeo enthusiast discovered his passion for sailing quite late in life. In 1976, he took the start of the British Transat, aboard the Third Turtle, the smallest trimaran in the fleet, and took second place on the podium.
Mike Birch, a sailing legend
In 1978, he became a legend in the history of sailing with his participation in the very first Route du Rhum . It was aboard his Olympus trimaran, a 39-foot yellow trimaran, that he snatched victory from Michel Malinovsky, at the helm of the huge Kriter V, just before the finish line and won the race with a 98-second lead. After 23 days, six hours and 56 minutes, Mike Birch made ocean racing history. This victory will allow the Route du Rhum to become part of history, but also to put an end to the monopoly of monohulls, to the benefit of multihulls, faster, but also less reliable.
An impressive track record
Since his victory, he participated in every Route du Rhum until 2002, when he was 71 years old. Until 1990, he was one of the top five finishers, taking third place in 1982, and fourth place in 1986 and 1990. This sailing enthusiast continued his career in ocean racing, taking the start of numerous races and winning many victories: Transat Anglaise, Route du Rhum, Twostar, Course de l'Europeeuros. He was twice crowned Fico world champion, in 1991 and 1992.
- Six participations in the English transatlantic race, 2nd in 1992 and 1976
- Five participations in the Quebec-St Malo
- Fico World Champion 1991 and 1992
- Winner Lorient-St Barth-Lorient 1989 on Fujicolor
- Winner of Monaco New-York in 1985 on Formula Tag
- Winner of the Route du Rhum 1978 on Olympus and 7 participations
- Transat Québec Saint-Malo: has participated in all editions since 1984
An inveterate browser
This multihull enthusiast has always continued to sail. In 2010, he built the "Dolly" himself, in homage to his mother, in Walter Greene's shipyard. The shipyard that had lent him Olympus for the Route du Rhum, a yellow trimaran of only 39 feet (less than 12 m).
We were able to see it, on the occasion of the christening of the trimaran Acapella of his friend Charlie Capelle, which took the start of the Route du Rhum 2014. Emotional moment, when the great Mike Birch, then 83 years old broke the bottle of champagne on the hull of the boat.
