~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
French solo sailor François Gabart
set off yesterday [5 Nov] on an attempt to break the single-handed round the world
race. He left from his home port of Port-la-Forêt in Brittany to cross the
official line between Ushant and The Lizard, speeding away on north-westerlies
on his 98ft trimaran MACIF.
This most elusive of records has
been held in the past by Ellen MacArthur, Francis Joyon and currently by Thomas Coville, and it stands at an
incredible 49d 3h. But it should be remembered that Coville’s record time in
December last year in the 105ft trimaran Sobebo took him four attempts, and on
one of those, he sailed all the way round the world only to be thwarted by the
weather in the final days at sea.
Bettering this record requires
intense preparation and a fair bit of luck with the weather, particularly on
the return though the South Atlantic.
François Gabart has a lot on his
side. MACIF is more technically advanced than Sodebo, a new generation VPLP
design launched just over two years ago and now comprehensively trialled and
tested. The yacht features manually adjusted L foils and although it is not in
the fully foiling league of the newly launched Gitana 17, these foils reduce
displacement and increase speed.
This boat also has more sail area
and is wider than the preceding generations of big round the world trimarans,
which should help Gabart and MACIF negotiate lighter wind
To beat this record, Gabart will
have to cross the finish line before 23 December.
“We hope that this weather window
will be the right one to pick up the tradewinds and quickly head towards the
South Atlantic. It’s a small window. It may not be the best window in the
world, but there comes a time when you have to leave!
“We have a fair idea of what weather
we will have until the Equator, but not after that. This is also part of the
record attempt. This is why we have chosen to leave now. We have to try and
we’ll see near Brazil if the weather follows on as we would hope. The timing is
really important, since this is a record that’s almost impossible to beat.
“Thomas [Coville] sailed wonderfully
and the weather windows followed on from each other perfectly. So I will do my
very best to get close to what he did. You really need to have a guiding star
and a little success to have weather windows that follow on from each other
well right until the end. It has taken nearly two years of work to get to this
stage; now, it’s time to getting going!”
The sailing adage that records are won and lost in the Atlantic almost always holds true.
The sailing adage that records are won and lost in the Atlantic almost always holds true.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I am sure there will be more on this amazing feat - or failure - and we will try to keep our readers advised as we learn more.... Regardless of how Mr. Gabart's attempt goes, you have to admire his verve and determination! I for one, hope he does well and breaks the record!
Until next time,
Fair Winds,
Old Salt
No comments:
Post a Comment