YNZ Sailors of the Year - Stu Bannatyne and Brad Jackson - Fast times!

by Sail-World on 23 Nov 2009
At 13:10 UTC on 28 October 2008, Ericsson 4 obliterated the 24-hour record run for a monohull when the team recorded a run of 593.23 nautical miles during leg one of the Volvo Ocean Race. Later they broke the 600nm barrier for the first time in a monohull.

The previous record (562.96 nm) was set by ABN Amro Two, during leg two of the previous Volvo Ocean Race in 2006.

Ericsson 4 skipper Torben Grael said: 'We are doing 30 knots of boat speed. The wind is around 28-32 knots but the waves (around eight metres) are not very good for us. Conditions are marginal. I think we have been pretty much on the edge. Perhaps if we had a better sea state, we might be able to go faster, but it is hard to go faster with waves like this.'

Following is a presentation of video clips from Ericsson 4, mainly of the fast times, recalling the achievements of watch captains Brad Jackson and Stuart Bannatyne, for which they were awarded the 2009 Sailor of the Year trophy by Yachting New Zealand, and also in recognition of their three wins each in Volvo Ocean Races. At the bottom of the video clips, press play to hear the on board audio from Brad Jackson about what he is thinking about on the helm when hitting 30kts!

Stuart Bannatyne and Brad Jackson discuss the fleet heading south



Ericsson 4 highlights, Volvo Ocean Race 2008-09



Onboard interviews with Brad Jackson and Tony Mutter as well as Torben Grael and Jules Salter discussing their route by the navigation screen



29 October 2008 - At 03:55 GMT, Ericsson 4 had sailed 565 miles over the past day to break the record. And in the hours since, Grael and his crew have been adding to the total. At 07:10 GMT, the number was up to 585...