Gabart chooses safety over speed

(November 29, 2017; Day 26, 23:00 FR) – François Gabart been forced to slow the 30m MACIF trimaran amid a chaotic sea and 25+ knot winds in his bid to set a new singlehanded round the world record. While he seeks to remain in a vein of westerly winds in his approach to Cape Horn, now 2300 nm ahead, Gabart must manage his pace as the conditions are unsafe to sail at full speed. Despite only covering 526.5 nm in the past 24 hours, Gabart remains 697.71 nm ahead of the record pace.

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