North Atlantic Record - François Gabart is off!

by Service Presse Trimaran MACIF on 2 Jul 2016 This is it! François Gabart waited for the first day of July before he set off on an attempt to secure the North Atlantic crossing record, held by Francis Joyon, who sailed it in 5 days, 2 hours, 56 minutes and 10 seconds (26.2 knots average true speed), in June 2013. “My challenge is to sail well from the start. I am like a footballer who hasn’t played for a month and a half and is brought on after 75 minutes of play”, says the skipper of the MACIF trimaran.

An open window

On Thursday morning, the skipper of MACIF left Brest for New York, where he found his trimaran waiting for him on Friday morning, along with some of the members of his team. A discussion with his router, Jean-Yves Bernot, confirmed that the window spotted a few days ago was still favourable, and that the start would take place. The 30-metre trimaran left New York early in the afternoon (local time) to make its way out to the departure line, near the Ambrose Light station. This was an opportunity for the skipper to re-familiarize himself with his boat before crossing the official start line, at 02.18 French time (20.18 local time).

Looking for the weather front

Once the start signal is given, François Gabart expects to have a difficult start to the crossing: “The first 24 hours are uncertain, because there’s lots of instability due to the thundery weather off New York. I will need to make the best of opportunities and work round the thunder storms to try and get a good shot at it.” To achieve this, the skipper is relying on the talent of Jean-Yves Bernot. “He has very valuable experience at record attempts and knows all the problems you can have with this kind of boat.”

What happens next? “After the first 24 hours, everything should go well. If things go as planned, I’ll find myself in a south-westerly ahead of a 200-300 weather front moving east. The challenge will be to succeed in staying ahead of it, because if it catches up with me, I’ll have no wind behind to drive me.” I will need to maintain an average speed of 25-30 knots.

He needs to sail well from the start

François Gabart is fully aware that to dispossess Francis Joyon of the Atlantic record, he must sail the same way he did to win The Transat Bakerly back in May. “My challenge is to sail well from the start. I will need to quickly find my bearings again, since I haven’t sailed the boat since mid-May. I am like a footballer who hasn’t played for a month and a half and is brought on after 75 minutes of play”. He will have achieve all this on this first record attempt on board the MACIF trimaran.

“The big difference in relation to what I have experienced up until now is that I do not have anyone racing alongside as a bearing. In this case, I’m alone against the clock. It's all up to me.' To become the new holder of the Atlantic record, François Gabart must cross the line off Lizard Point before Thursday 07/07, on 05H 14’ 55’’ (French time UT+1).