Gabart’s tactical descent to the equator
Published on November 7th, 2017
(November 7, 2017; Day 4, 21:00 FR) – François Gabart has seen his advantage on the single-handed round the world time set by Thomas Coville shrink since yesterday due to gybes to the west to get around Cape Verde and ultimately improve the approach to the equator. The skipper of the 30m MACIF trimaran is 85.57nm ahead of the record pace after covering 549.9 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).