Gabart sets milestones at Cape Horn

(December 3, 2017; Day 30, 13:20 FR) – François Gabart is racking up performances in his attempt to beat the single-handed round the world record. The skipper of the 30m MACIF trimaran has covered 762.1 nm in the past 24 hours and has increased his margin to 1209.6 nm ahead of the record pace.

It was a milestone day as at 13:20 (French time, UTC+1), Gabart crossed the longitude of Cape Horn, 29 days, 03 hours and 15 minutes after crossing the Ouessant starting line, making this the second best time outright, in the history of sailing, single-handed and with crew combined, since only Francis Joyon and his crew on IDEC Sport achieved a better time last year of 26 days, 15 hours and 45 minutes.

The MACIF trimaran has improved the reference time between Ouessant (Ushant) and Cape Horn single-handed, held since 2016 by Thomas Coville (31 days, 11 hours and 30 minutes). This performance is all the more remarkable, since it establishes a new outright record (single-handed and with crew combined) of the south Pacific crossing (Tasmania-Cape Horn) in 7 days 15 hours and 15 minutes*, better than the 7 days, 21 hours, 13 minutes and 31 seconds by IDEC Sport last year (Thomas Coville took 8 days, 18 hours, 28 minutes and 45 seconds).

However, the chief goal of this round the world is still to beat the single-handed round the world record by Thomas Coville (49 days, 3 hours, 4 minutes and 28 seconds). To succeed in this, François Gabart will need to sail up the Atlantic Ocean in less than 20 days, to get to Ouessant before December 23.

The key news of the round the world record
Date of departure: Saturday November 4, at 10:05 (French time, UTC+1)
Number of miles sailed since the start: 19,280 miles (35,707 km)
Number of miles still to sail: 7,114 miles (13,175 km)
Ouessant-Equator passage time: 05 d 20 h 45 min
Ouessant -Good Hope passage time: 11 d 20 h 10 min
Ouessant-Cape Agulhas passage time: 11 d 22 h 20 min
Ouessant-Cape Leeuwin passage time: 19 d 14 h 10 min
Ouessant-Cape Horn passage time: 29 d 03 h 15 min

Team details – Tracker – Facebook

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).