Ocean Record breaking Champions of 2006

by Media on 27 Feb 2007 With eight records being improved on, the 2006 season will be considered as a great year as far as breaking ocean records is concerned. As 2007 begins with a large number of launches and new campaigns, we honour the 2006 champions: Bruno Peyron in the crewed category and Thomas Coville for the single-handed yachtsmen.

Crewed records: Peyron, King of the Atlantic
Thanks to his performance on the route between New York – The Lizard ( 4 d, 8 h, 23 mins and 54 secs) and the improvement achieved on this same crossing of his own 24-hour record (766.8 miles), Bruno Peyron is a clear winner for the title of 2006 Records world champion. The end of the year 2006 however was not to be a relaxing one for Peyron, as he was prematurely dropped by his partner Orange: 'Now the boat is called Team Explorer. I decided to buy it in December 2006 and even if it is a little too soon to say what the future holds, her present configuration enables her to sail around the world in 47 days and to cross the Atlantic in less than 4 days. With the developments that are already planned, we can expect to gain another 5% over these figures! So there’s a lot of great things to do, and I’m currently working on several possible options.'

We can add that the two new records set by Olivier de Kersauson in the North Pacific mean that he wins second place in the 2006 championship.

Single-handed records: two records set by Coville
Achieving two remarkable successes this summer with the Round the British Isles and Channel Crossing records, Thomas Coville has earned the title in the single-handed category, ahead of Yvan Bourgnon and Yves Parlier, who both improved on the 24-hour record this year. Thomas Coville: 'I’m pleased for several reasons. First of all because this rewards the work undertaken with Sodeb’O over the past three years. We chose to work on a record-breaking campaign to try something different, and now the 2006 season has rewarded this effort, and showed we made the right choices. I am pleased to see this records circuit becoming more organised, and of course overjoyed to win the title this year, but I am keen to remain modest, as the adventure continues, and this counts more than resting on your laurels. We also need to congratulate Yvan Bourgnon and Yves Parlier on their great performances in setting new 24-hour records, which took some real determination. 2007 looks like being fantastic and next week I’ll be setting off for Australia, where my future giant is being built. Her launch is still planned for 8th June, and we’ll be enjoying ourselves sailing her back to Europe before tackling something more serious, including an attempt around the world, which will be the climax.'

A look at the yards…
• While Thomas Coville’s Irens-Cabaret designed boat is taking shape at Boatspeed on the other side of the world, Francis Joyon’s Idec 2 maxi trimaran, designed by the same pair of architects, is well under way at Marsaudon Composites in Lorient. Everything is on schedule and her launch is due to take place in June.
• Groupama 3, which went through her first series of adjustments in 2006, will be relaunched in March after a winter refit. This overhaul included reinforcing and improving the floats, perfecting the appendages, a general check-up and reducing weight in the mast. The real records campaign will begin in earnest this year and the final programme is to be announced on 9th March.
• Banque Populaire 5, which is going to be the largest racing multihull in the world with her 40 metres, will soon be entering the building phase. The designs drawn up by the VPLP studio were handed over to the CDK yard, which will be responsible for her construction. In particular they are taking care of making the crossbeams and the final assembly, while the JMV yard in Cherbourg is in charge of making the central hull and floats. HDS and Gurit are responsible for calculating the structure (launch planned for June 2008).
• Gitana 13 (ex-Innovation Explorer, ex-Orange, ex-Kingfisher 2) has just been relaunched. The helm of the Ollier designed maxi-catamaran has been given to Lionel Lemonchois, who is expected to begin his campaign with an attempt at the Route de la Découverte.

Focus on Roman Paszke, the surprise contestant...
The Polish yachtsman will have surprised more than one by launching his new 90-foot catamaran in Sweden in early February! Designed and built by Marström Composites, the craft only took the yard three and a half months and has already shown her speed reaching 33 knots in 26 knots of wind (one reef and staysail) on her second trip. Paszke, whom you may remember sailed The Race in 2001 on board the ex-Commodore Explorer, now wants to tackle the single-handed round the world record following in the footsteps of his friends, Thomas Coville and Francis Joyon. 'If a contest between the three of us could take place next winter, moreover, it would be just great,' the Polish skipper told us. The exact programme details have not yet been published, but may well include an attempt at the Route de la Découverte (solo, the record held by Thomas Coville) in the spring. Roman Paszke is backed by the Polish pharmaceutical firm Bioton.

The 8 Records set in 2006 (in chronological order):

• North Pacific record / San Francisco – Yokohama (27th April 2006)
Geronimo Trimaran, Olivier de Kersauson.
14 d, 22 h, 40 mins and 41 secs (12.49 knots average speed)

• 24-hour single-handed record (19th May 2006)
60’ Hydraplaneur Catamaran, Yves Parlier, 586 miles (24.41 knots average speed)

• North Pacific Record / Yokohama – San Francisco (11th June 2006)
Geronimo Trimaran, Olivier de Kersauson.
13 d, 22 h, 38 mins and 28 secs (13.39 knots)

• 24-hour record (crew – 4th July 2006)
Maxi-catamaran Orange II, Bruno Peyron.
766.8 miles (31.95 knots average speed)

• North Atlantic Record / New York – The Lizard (6th July 2006)
Maxi-catamaran Orange II, Bruno Peyron.
4 d, 8 h, 23 mins and 54 secs (28 knots average speed )

• Channel Record / Cowes – Dinard (15th July 2006)
60’ Trimaran Sodeb’O, Thomas Coville.
7 h, 55 mins and 47 secs (17.40 knots average speed )

• 24-hour single-handed record (second record of the year, 7th August 2006)
60’ Trimaran Brossard, Yvan Bourgnon, 610.4 miles (25.43 knots average speed )

• Round the British Isles
60’ Trimaran Sodeb’O, Thomas Coville.
6 d, 6 h, 40 mins and 31 secs

http://www.records-oceaniques.com/en/