“Great Circle” races across the Med in 35 hours!

by Maguelonne Turcat on 2 Jun 2010 “Mission accomplished!” exclaims the triumphant Belgian skipper Gérald Bibot, author of this new* Mediterranean Class 40 record with Cécile Poujol, Michel Kleinjans and Nicolas Marchand. “Great Circle” crossed the finish line off the Ras Quartajamah lighthouse in Carthage (Tunisia) this Tuesday morning at 02h, 18 mn, 20 seconds (UT), thus setting a reference time of 35 hours, 36 mn 13 seconds across the course, at an average speed of 12.89 knots.

“As we left Marseilles, our routing software and visualisation predictions** gave us a thoroughly realistic view of the situation: a 50-50 “all or nothing”, due to the possible formation of a ridge of high pressure blocking our way. As a crew we’d been on standby since early March, and despite evolutions in the information we were monitoring live over the last 12 hours, we decided just to set off anyway and give it our best shot. That’s part and parcel of this kind of thing. The moral of the adventure is that the boat goes well, the crew is fantastic, the software performed very well and we’ve had a spot of success!”

‘Flat out’ descent despite instrument failure
As planned – and despite having diagnosed instrument failure before leaving the quayside – the ride along the coast of Corsica overnight on Sunday was very quick and required a switch to ‘boiler’ mode. Under one reef mainsail and Solent, Great Circle, well on schedule on a regular basis, sent the spray flying, her wake smoking as she was propelled along by an steady, established wind of around 30 knots. Deprived of information from the navigation station, the crew had to call upon their vast experience of offshore racing to optimise the trajectory of the Class40 without the possibility of measuring the strength and the angle of the wind. In line with the forecast, the situation got a bit tense to the South of Sardinia, offshore of Cagliari, with the wind dropping to around 15 knots for four hours.

Wind all the way to the line
However, after that the wind quickly kicked back in to 25-30 knots, and the crew was once again able to alternate between the small and the large spinnaker, at the mercy of the variations in pressure during the last night. They continued in this vein till they broached rather suddenly, resulting in them losing the large spinnaker. As is the case for all records, ultimately anything can happen before the finish, and the deliverance never really came until they got across the line in the early hours. However, the four sailors kept on battling and were justly rewarded by managing to stay with the wind all the way to the end.

“A great experience!” commented Cécile Poujol “The ‘record’ formula was very appealing: downwind all the way, sailing in the fastest direction, on the most efficient date. Other than repositioning ourselves slightly to enter the bay of Tunis, we sailed 450 miles on the same tack! Great Circle is a powerful boat, which requires a lot of attention downwind, but it really was a great sail”.

* Mediterranean record Class40: Marseilles – Carthage 458 nautical miles
Solo reference time set in 2008 by Michel Kleinjans 45 hours and 24 minutes
Great Circle has just set the first crewed reference time over the distance with a time of 35 hours, 36 mn, 13 seconds (subject to validation by the WSSRC)
Official start time: 30/05 14h42'07' (UT) – Finish time 01/06 02h18'20' (UT)

** “Great Circle” (or ‘direct route’) is a piece of routing software for visualising weather forecasts, which will be developed and marketed in partnership with the professional router Christian Dumard

The crew
Gérald Bibot (49 yrs) - skipper, living in Lasne (Belgium): He began his career in the Hobie 16 after 10 years at the highest level of competition, including participations in the Belgian, European and World championships. Now though he has switched allegiance to the Class 40.

2009 scores: second Grand Prix Petit Navire, third Fastnet, second 1000 milles Brittany Ferries, second Les Sables Horta stage, fourth Transmanche. 2007: (with his old boat) Transat Jacques Vabre, 18th, third Trophée SNSM, third Mondial Class40, 2006: third Roma Per Due en Figaro 2. 2003-2004, grand tour of the Atlantic with family.

Cécile Poujol (30 yrs), living in La Ciotat (Bouches du Rhône): at 23 she raced solo across the Atlantic for the first time in the Mini Transat 2003. 2006, construction of a 100% Mediterranean Class40 and participation in the Route du Rhum – the only woman in the category – 18th, then in 2007 in the Les Sables Madeira race, Transat Jacques Vabre, 17th, 2008 Quebec Saint-Malo in crewed configuration. Third in the SNIM 2010 night race.

Michel Kleinjans (46 yrs), native and resident of the region of Antwerp (Belgium): One of the finest track records in the world aboard a 40 footer, with notably one solo victory in 2009 in the Portimao Global Ocean Race around the world and a victory in the last edition of the Route du Rhum in class three, in 2006. The holder of numerous solo records aboard a 40 footer, notably the Marseilles Carthage in 2008, the Round Ireland and the Round Britain and Ireland. A vast experience of ocean racing, notably in the Figaro circuit, Mini-Transat, Ostar. Yachtsman of the Year 2006.

Nicolas Marchand (35 yrs), living in Marignane, southern France: Mini Transat 2005 solo, Transat Jacques Vabre 2007 double-handed, 3 Mini Fastnets (1999, 2001, 2005), Wally circuit in 2008 and 2009 crewed, 25,000 miles in ocean races, sailing in a 60’ Open, manager of the Open Sea Yachts company, specialised in Yacht management.

The boat
Akilaria 40 RC2, Architect: Marc Lombard, Constructor: Mc Tec. This new boat, without a cruising compromise, has been optimised within the limits of the Class 40 measurement. The Mc Tec yard has been installed in NE Tunisia since 2004.