The Columbus Atlantic Trophy is an award for the fastest non-stop two way crossing of the Atlantic Ocean within a given time period. It was inaugurated in 1992 by New York Yacht Club in concert with Costa Smeralda Yacht Club of Sardinia.
The Columbus Atlantic Trophy is a two-foot silver goblet, which was actually given in 1928 to the NYYC by King Alfonso XIII of Spain, as the prize for the 1928 trans-Atlantic yacht race won by NYYC's yacht Elena. The trophy is available to any vessel that can set a trans-Atlantic record one way, then (within a set time-frame) set the corresponding record back. A further stipulation is that the vessel must travel without stopping, and without re-fuelling en route. [1]
At the time of its inauguration the non-stop east-west record was that set by the American liner United States in July 1952, on her return to the US, crossing in 84 hours 12 minutes at an average speed of 34.51 knots. The west- east record was that of the SeaCat Hoverspeed Great Britain in 1990, crossing in 79 hours 55 minutes at an average of 36.96 knots (and beating United States easterly voyage by 2 h 45 min, adding 1.37 knots to the average speed).
In 1992 Destriero broke both records, crossing east to west (though by a different route, from Tarifa, Spain, to New York) and two weeks later returning at an average speed of 53.09 knots. [1] This also beat the unqualified trans-Atlantic record set by Gentry Eagle in 1989, which crossed west to east in 62 hour 7 minutes, at an average speed of 47.4 knots.
This record has not so far been broken.
Yacht racing is a sailing sport involving sailing yachts and larger sailboats, as distinguished from dinghy racing, which involves open boats. It is composed of multiple yachts, in direct competition, racing around a course marked by buoys or other fixed navigational devices or racing longer distances across open water from point-to-point. It can involve a series of races with buoy racing or multiple legs when point-to-point racing.
The Blue Riband is an unofficial accolade given to the passenger liner crossing the Atlantic Ocean in regular service with the record highest average speed. The term was borrowed from horse racing and was not widely used until after 1910. The record is based on average speed rather than passage time because ships follow different routes. Also, eastbound and westbound speed records are reckoned separately, as the more difficult westbound record voyage, against the Gulf Stream and the prevailing weather systems, typically results in lower average speeds.
The Hales Trophy, officially the North Atlantic Blue Riband Challenge Trophy is an award for the fastest Atlantic crossing by a commercial passenger vessel.
Transatlantic crossings are passages of passengers and cargo across the Atlantic Ocean between Europe or Africa and the Americas. The majority of passenger traffic is across the North Atlantic between Western Europe and North America. Centuries after the dwindling of sporadic Viking trade with Markland, a regular and lasting transatlantic trade route was established in 1566 with the Spanish West Indies fleets, following the voyages of Christopher Columbus.
The Jules Verne Trophy is a prize for the fastest circumnavigation of the world by any type of yacht with no restrictions on the size of the crew provided the vessel has registered with the organization and paid an entry fee. A vessel holding the Jules Verne trophy will not necessarily hold the absolute round the world record. The trophy was first awarded to the first yacht which sailed around the world in less than 80 days. The name of the award is a reference to the Jules Verne novel Around the World in Eighty Days in which Phileas Fogg traverses the planet in 80 days. The current holder is IDEC Sport skippered by Francis Joyon in 40 days 23 hours 30 minutes 30 seconds.
Francis Joyon is a French professional sailboat racer and yachtsman. Joyon and his crew currently hold the Jules Verne Trophy for circumnavigation, on IDEC SPORT, nearly five days less than the previous reference time. He held the record for the fastest single-handed sailing circumnavigation from 2008 to 2016.
The Single-handed Trans-Atlantic Race (STAR) is an east-to-west yacht race across the North Atlantic. When inaugurated in 1960, it was the first single-handed ocean yacht race; it is run from Plymouth in England to Newport, Rhode Island in the United States, and has generally been held on a four yearly basis.
Ocean rowing is the sport of rowing across oceans. Some ocean rowing boats can hold as many as fourteen rowers; however, the most common ocean rowboats are designed for singles, doubles, and fours.
The 2005 Rolex Transatlantic Challenge was celebrated at the 100th anniversary of the 1905 race for the Kaiser's Cup also known as "The Great Ocean Race". In this race, there was a skipper named Charlie Barr who raced the 3-masted schooner called Atlantic across the ocean for nearly 3,000 nautical miles (6,000 km) of the North Atlantic to set a monohull unbeaten record for the 1905 course of exactly only 12 days, 4 hours, 1 minute and 19 seconds.
Destriero is a 67-metre (220 ft) long, 13-metre (43 ft) wide, 400-ton displacement, yacht built by Fincantieri in their Muggiano yard at La Spezia in 1991. She is fitted with three GE Aviation LM1600 gas turbines totalling 60,000-horsepower (45,000 kW), providing her with a maximum speed of 110 kilometres per hour. Destriero was built with the sponsorship of the Aga Khan IV and others specifically to cross the Atlantic Ocean in record time of 3 days and secure the Blue Riband.
Franck Cammas is a French yachtsman. He has lived in Brittany since his victory in the Challenge Espoir Crédit Agricole in 1994. After completing a two-year maths course for the ‘Grandes écoles’, as well as a piano academy, Franck Cammas finally opted for a career in sailing. In 1997, at the age of 24, he won the Solitaire du Figaro and a year later helmed his first trimaran christened Groupama. Despite his late entry into competition, he is one of the most talented and respected sailors in the Ocean Racing Multihull Association world.
The Brisbane to Gladstone yacht race is held annually, starting on Good Friday. The premier blue water classic begins from Shorncliffe in Moreton Bay, Queensland, Australia, and finishes in Gladstone Harbour. Yachts compete for the Courier Mail Cup, one of the oldest perpetual trophies in Australia that has been competed for on a continual basis.
Speed sailing records are sanctioned, since 1972, by the World Sailing Speed Record Council (WSSRC). Records are measured either by average speed over a specified distance or by total distance traveled during a specified time interval. The three most sought after records are the:
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Banque Populaire V, is an offshore-racing trimaran which was originally run by Team Banque Populaire. It was Team Banque Populaire's fifth boat designed to set oceanic records. She was launched on 4 October 2008 in Nantes, France. She holds multiple records for sailing over set courses, as well as the record for distance sailed in 24 hours by any class of sailing boat, 908.2 nm.
Daedalus is a maxi-catamaran, that participated in numerous open-ocean races under various owners and names.
Thomas Coville is a French yacht racer.
Comanche is a 100 ft maxi yacht. She was designed in France by VPLP and Guillaume Verdier and built in the United States by Hodgdon Yachts for Dr. James H. Clark.
The Virgin Atlantic Challenge Trophy is an award for the fastest trans-Atlantic crossing by a surface vessel, one of several such awards that have grown out of the contest for the prestigious Blue Riband of the Atlantic. The trophy was created following Richard Branson's record-breaking Atlantic crossing in 1986 and the refusal by the American Merchant Marine Museum to surrender the Hales Trophy, the then only official award for the Atlantic crossing record. The Virgin Atlantic Challenge Trophy is currently held by the Aga Khan's vessel, Destriero.
The Madeleine was a 19th-century racing schooner-yacht built in 1868 by David Kurby in Rye, New York and owned by Commodore Jacob B. Voorhis. Madeleine was the winner of the America's Cup in 1876 and an American defender in the 1870 America's Cup. She won the two most desired trophies reserved for schooners, the Bennett and the Douglas Cups. In 1911, the Madeleine was dismantled and sunk at the mouth of the Hillsborough River, Florida.