Favorable Conditions for Record Setting

(November 11, 2017; Day 8, 21:00 FR) – Saturday, the morning of the eighth day of his attempt against the record of the solo round the world, François Gabart had resumed speed after an unstable passage. It is difficult under these circumstances to care for yourself, but it is imperative, however, that only starts his marathon across the globe.

After seven days of sliding south, François Gabart now surveyed the other half of the planet. At 24.6 knots average over the last 24 hours, the skipper of the trimaran MACIF managed to curb his losses during the day that followed his crossing of the equator. It was Friday morning, around 6:50 am (French time), that Francis rocked on the other side of the globe with 3:35 behind the time of Thomas Coville during his victorious attempt.

The skipper of the 30m MACIF trimaran is 7.44nm behind the record pace after covering 626 nm in the past 24 hours.

Only three sailors to date (Francis Joyon, Ellen MacArthur, Thomas Coville) have ever held the record. After his start on November 4, to beat the record of 49 days, 3 hours, 4 minutes and 28 seconds held by Coville since December 25, 2016, Gabart will need to cross the finishing line (between Créac’h lighthouse, in Ouessant (Ushant), and the Lizard Point lighthouse in Cornwall, England) before 13.09 on December 23 (French time, UTC+1).

Team details – Tracker – Facebook