Transatlantic sailing record

Last updated

Banque Populaire V, current record holder Banque populaire5-003.jpg
Banque Populaire V, current record holder

Since the five-week voyage of Christopher Columbus in 1492, quickly and safely crossing the Atlantic Ocean between Europe and the Americas has always been an important issue. Today, the route has become a classic one among skippers. The record is one of the most prestigious, next to the Jules Verne Trophy, for which it is often a good preparation.

Contents

This record can be achieved both ways: from west to east or from east to west. It can also be homologated single-handed or crewed, on monohulls or on multihulls. It is homologated, since 1972, by the WSSRC [1]

From west to east

This route is the fastest, as it follows the prevailing westerlies. It is the one that meets the most interest among skippers. The crossing must be made from Ambrose Light of New York to an imaginary line linking Lizard Point, Cornwall to Ushant. The distance is around 2,880 nautical miles (5,330 km; 3,310 mi).

Crewed [2]

TimeYachtSkipperCrewDateAverage speed
12d 04h 01m 19s Flag of the United States.svg Atlantic Charlie Barr 190510.20 knots (18.89 km/h)
10d 05h 14m 20s [Multihull] Flag of France.svg Paul Ricard (trimaran) Éric Tabarly Éric Bourhis, Georges Calvé, Dominique Pipat198012.15 knots (22.50 km/h)
9d 10h 06m 34s Flag of France.svg Elf Aquitaine Marc Pajot 198113.18 knots (24.41 km/h)
08d 16h 36m Flag of France.svg Jet Services 2 Patrick Morvan Jean Le Cam, Marc Guillemot, (Serge Madec)198414.29 knots (26.47 km/h)
07d 21h 05m 42s Flag of France.svg Royale 2 Loïc Caradec 198515.76 knots (29.19 km/h)
07d 12h 49m 34s Flag of France.svg Fleury Michon VIII Philippe Poupon 198716.48 knots (30.52 km/h)
07d 06h 32m Flag of France.svg Jet Service V Serge Madec Marc Guillemot 198817.07 knots (31.61 km/h)
6d 13h 03m 32s Flag of France.svg Jet Service V Serge Madec 199018.97 knots (35.13 km/h)
6d 17h 52m 39s Mari-Cha IV [3] Robert Miller2003
4d 17h 28m 6s [Catamaran] PlayStation Flag of the United States.svg  Steve Fossett  (USA)Flag of the United States.svg  Stan Honey  (USA),
Ben Wright, Dave Scully, Gino Morrelli, Peter Hogg, Shaun Biddulph, Dave Calvert, Paul Van Dyke, David Weir
200126.26 knots (48.63 km/h)
4d 08h 23m 54s Orange II Flag of France.svg  Bruno Peyron  (FRA)Flag of Sweden.svg  Roger Nilson  (SWE),
Flag of Switzerland (Pantone).svg  Bernard Stamm  (SUI),
Ludovic Aglaor, Florent Chastel, Pascal Bidégorry,
Flag of France.svg  Jacques Caraes  (FRA),
Ronan Le Goff, Jean-Baptiste Epron, Yann Guichard, Clément Surtel, Jean-Baptiste Le Vaillant
200628.54 knots (52.86 km/h)
4d 03h 57m 54s Groupama 3 Flag of France.svg  Franck Cammas  (FRA)Flag of France.svg  Franck Proffit  (FRA),
Flag of Switzerland (Pantone).svg  Stève Ravussin  (SUI),
Flag of France.svg  Frédéric Le Peutrec  (FRA),
Flag of France.svg  Sébastien Audigane  (FRA),
Flag of France.svg  Yann Guichard  (FRA),
Flag of France.svg  Ronan Le Goff  (FRA),
Flag of France.svg  Bruno Jeanjean  (FRA),
Flag of France.svg  Loïc Le Mignon  (FRA),
Flag of France.svg  Pascal Blouin  (FRA)
200729.81 knots (55.21 km/h)
3d 15h 25min 48s Banque Populaire V (fastest multihull)Flag of France.svg  Pascal Bidégorry  (FRA)Flag of France.svg  Ronan Lucas  (FRA),
Flag of France.svg  Kévin Escoffier  (FRA),
Flag of Switzerland (Pantone).svg  Yvan Ravussin  (SUI),
Flag of France.svg  Ewen Le Clech  (FRA),
Sébastien Audigane, Florent Chastel, Jean-Baptiste Le Vaillant, Emmanuel Le Borgne, Marcel Van Triest, Pierre-Yves Moreau, Xavier Revil
200932.94 knots (61.00 km/h)
Monohull
5d 14h 21min 25s Comanche (fastest monohull [4] )Flag of Australia (converted).svg  Casey Smith  (AUS)Flag of the United States.svg  Stan Honey  (USA),
Flag of the United States.svg  Tony Mutter  (USA),
Flag of the Netherlands.svg  Dirk de Ridder  (NED),
Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  Robert Greenhalgh  (GBR),
Flag of the United States.svg  Shannon Falcone  (USA),
Flag of France.svg  Yann Riou  (FRA),
Chris Maxted, Jon von Schwarz, Juggy Clougher, Julien Cressant, Nick Dana, Flag of Spain.svg  Pablo Arrarte  (ESP), Pepe Ribes, Peter van Niekerk, Phil Harmer, Richard Clarke
201621.44 knots (39.71 km/h)

Single-handed

Groupama 3, previous record holder for both directions, from east to west and west to east, both crewed and singlehandedly under the name of IDEC Sport Groupama 3 under sails, South Britanny, front side view.jpg
Groupama 3, previous record holder for both directions, from east to west and west to east, both crewed and singlehandedly under the name of IDEC Sport
TimeYachtSkipperDateAverage speed
11d 11h 46m 36s Flag of France.svg Explorer Bruno Peyron 1987
9d 21h 42m Flag of France.svg Pierre 1er Florence Arthaud 1990
9d 19h 22m Flag of France.svg Explorer Bruno Peyron July 1992
7d 02h 34m 42s Flag of France.svg Primagaz Laurent Bourgnon June 199417.47 knots (32.35 km/h)
6d 04h 01m 37s Flag of France.svg IDEC Francis Joyon 6 July 200519.75 knots (36.58 km/h)
5d 19h 29m 20s Flag of France.svg Sodebo Thomas Coville 15 July 200824.72 knots (45.78 km/h)
5d 02h 56m 10s Flag of France.svg IDEC 2 Francis Joyon 16 June 201327.47 knots (50.87 km/h)
5d 02h 07m Flag of France.svg IDEC Sport Francis Joyon 13 July 201727.65 knots (51.21 km/h)
4d 11h 10m 23s Flag of France.svg Sodebo Ultim Thomas Coville 15 July 201728.35 knots (52.50 km/h)

From east to west

This crossing is made between Cadiz and San Salvador Island, for a distance of 3,884 nautical miles (7,193 km). It was also called Route of the discovery in honor of Christopher Columbus and his 1492 crossing.

Crewed

TimeDateBoatBoat TypeCrewNotesRef.
Outright
12d 12h 30m 27s1988 Jet Service V Skipper - Flag of France.svg  Serge Madec  (FRA),
Flag of France.svg  Marc Guillemot  (FRA),
Flag of France.svg Olivier Despaignes (FRA),
Flag of France.svg  Gerry Roufs  (FRA),
Flag of France.svg Jean-Yves Bernot (FRA)
14.91 knots (27.61 km/h)
10d 14h 53m 44s2000 Civil Ensign of New Zealand.svg Club Med Skipper - Flag of New Zealand.svg  Grant Dalton  (NZL),
Franck Proffit,
Flag of France.svg  Bruno Peyron  (FRA)
17.58 knots (32.56 km/h)
9d 13h 30m 18s2003 Flag of the United States.svg PlayStation Skipper - Flag of the United States.svg  Steve Fossett  (USA),
Dave Scully,
Pete Melvin,
Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  Brian Thompson  (GBR),
Peter Hogg,
Mark Featherstone,
Dave Calvert,
Mikaela Von Koskull,
Will Howden, Tim Zimmermann,
Nick Leggatt,
Simon Fisher,
Dave Thomson
16.92 knots (31.34 km/h)
7d 10h 58min 53s2007 Flag of France.svg Groupama 3 Skipper - Flag of France.svg  Franck Cammas  (FRA),
Flag of France.svg  Franck Proffit  (FRA),
Flag of Switzerland (Pantone).svg  Stève Ravussin  (SUI),
Pascal Blouin,
Loic Le Mignon,
Bruno Jeanjean,
Sébastien Audigane,
Frédéric Le Peutrec,
Ronan Le Goff,
Flag of the Netherlands.svg  Marcel Van Triest  (NED)
21.70 knots (40.19 km/h)
6d 14h 29m 21s2013 Spindrift 2 Skipper - Flag of Switzerland (Pantone).svg  Dona Bertarelli  (SUI)
Co-Skipper - Flag of France.svg  Yann Guichard  (FRA)
Xavier Revil,
Jean Baptiste Le Vaillant,
Antoine Carraz,
Thierry Douillard,
Christophe Espagnon,
Sébastien Marsset,
Nicolas Texier,
Erwan Tabarly,
François Morvan,
Thomas Rouxel,
Simone Gaeta,
Erwan Israel
24.50 knots (45.37 km/h)
Singlehanded
6d 23h 42m 18sJan 14 Banque Populaire VII Flag of France.svg  Armel Le Cleac'h  (FRA)23.16 knots (42.89 km/h)
8d 16h 07m 05s2013-02-15 IDEC 2 Flag of France.svg  Francis Joyon  (FRA)18.66 knots (34.56 km/h)
9d 20h 32m 23s2008-11-07 IDEC 2 Flag of France.svg  Francis Joyon  (FRA)16.42 knots (30.41 km/h)
10d 11h 50m 46s2005-07-08"Sodebo"Flag of France.svg  Thomas Coville  (FRA)15.42 knots (28.56 km/h)
11d 3h 17m 20sNov 04"Idec"Flag of France.svg  Francis Joyon  (FRA)14.53 knots (26.91 km/h)
Monohull. Initial benchmark time
10d 23h 9m 39sFeb 11"Maserati"Giovanni Soldini ITA
60 ft. Initial benchmark time
11d 08h 55m 29sMar 19"Arkea Paprec"Simon Sebastien FRA
40 foot. Initial benchmark time
21d 11h 18m 25sMar 15"Extreme Sail Academy"Sergio Frattaruolo ITA

Bermuda to Plymouth

2,870 nautical miles

TimeDateBoatBoat TypeCrewNotesRef.
Outright
5d 11h 57m 17sMay 16Phaedo 3Lloyd Thornburg USA
14d 06h 12m 50sAug 04"Mollymawk"Ross Hobson GBR
Monohull
13d 05h 19m 38sJune 17TalantaMikael Ryking/Irina Gracheva SWE/RUS

Dakar to Guadeloupe

2,551 nautical miles

TimeDateBoatBoat TypeCrewNotesRef.
Open 20ft
11d 01h 09m 30sApr 17Feel GoodVittorio and Nico Malingri ITA
11d 11h 25m 42sDec 07Ocean ExpressLequin/Moreau FRA

Plymouth to Newport

2,800 nautical miles

TimeDateBoatBoat TypeCrewNotesRef.
Outright
9d 08h 05m 20sJun 94"Primagaz"Laurent Bourgnon FRA
Singlehanded
9d 23h 54m 36sJun 00"Eure et Loire"Francis Joyon FRA
Female
14d 23h 11mJun 00"Kingfisher"Ellen MacArthur GBR
Monohull
13d 12h 47mJun 12"Vento Di Sardegna"Andrea Mura ITA

Notes and references

  1. "Ratified Passage". www.sailspeedrecords.com.
  2. "WSSRC transatlantic W-E crewed".
  3. "Historical list of Passage Records". www.sailspeedrecords.com. Retrieved 14 March 2019.
  4. "Comanche Crushes Transatlantic Record >> Scuttlebutt Sailing News". 28 July 2016.

See also

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