Record breaking trip around Mallorca

Mallorca is the largest island in the Balearic Islands, which are part of Spain and located in the Mediterranean, 100nm off the Spanish coast. Famous for its beautiful beaches and weather, to the sailor it begs the question: how fast can we go around it?

The L4 Trifork team on a modified VO70 yacht now know, besting the previous record established by German Maxi UCA back in April 2005 of 17 hours, 14 minutes and 19 seconds by 4 almost hours, after sailing more than 160nm.

The new time: 13 hours, 15 minutes and 17 seconds

With a weather forecast showing gusts up to 40 knots from northeast and waves of 8 meters in height, the crew of the former Ericsson 4, now modified with side foils, got the green light from Real Club Nautic to start the record attempt on January 20 at 7:00 am, in pitch darkness.

The crew with a combined 20 laps around the world includes.
Owner Jørn Larsen
Kristian Wulf Andersen
Jens Dolmer
Aksel Magdahl
Pinacho Fructuoso
Martin Hjortlund Christensen
Peter Van Niekerk
Antonio Cuervas-Mons
Pablo Arrarte
Luke Malloy
Jes Gram-Hansen

Antonio Cuervas-Mons confessed feeling surprised that such harsh conditions is possible in the Mediterranean: “We have had winds of 40 knots and very large waves, but the ship behaved well and all the crew did a great job. I am very grateful to the owner and Trifork who invited me to participate in this experience.”

The Cantabrian crew member explained that the most challenging part of the circumnavigation, lied in the Tramuntana area, with waves that exceeded more than eight meters, and in the Capdepera to Formentor.

In this video, Søren Wiegand Kristensen tells the story:

 
Video uploaded Mar 5, 2020.