Krys Ocean Race - MOD70s set record pace

by Spindrift Racing on 9 Jul 2012 Krys Ocean Race between New York and Brest in Brittany, France is underway and the five big MOD70 trimarans are setting a record pace on the southern border of a low system coming down from Canada. With over 530 miles covered on the first day, Spindrift Racing keeps up with the high speed shown by leader Musandam-Oman sail. Speed, overwhelming noise, ever present humidity on board makes those exhilarating conditions hard on the men, who have hardly been able to get some rest since leaving New York. Guichard and his men are really fighting a two way battle, one againt four MOD70s as sharp and as eager to win as theirs, and one against time and the fast moving low that could carry them in 48 hours all the way to the Azores.

'It’s wet, it’s awfully noisy, and extremely fast!' With these simple words Yann Guichard summed up his first impressions 20 or so hours into the Krys Ocean Race. 'As we speak, the boat is doing 39 knots!' Talk about stress. With Foncia only a short distance away downwind, the Spindrift racing crew has a good reference when it comes to finding the proper pace between high speed and preserving both men and material. Stève Ravussin’s misfortune comes as a sad reminder that with darkness, high speed sailing even in the vast Atlantic can be dangerous.

Guichard’s first concern for the time being is to keep Spindrift racing way ahead of the low system. With the sea state getting rougher with each passing hour, the challenge gets harder and harder, as men already starts to feel the burden of living in permanent stressful conditions. This situation might very well last another two or three days and the MOD70’s southern route could take them in record time close to the Azores. They then will have to gybe to head north east towards Spindrift Racing website