| 2 Aug 1700 - Banque Populaire V smash the record! |
Pascal Bidégorry and his 11 person crew on board the maxi trimaran Banque Populaire V, have absolutely pulverized the historic west to east transatlantic record.
Leaving New York on 30 July at 22h 47mn 42s UT they have crossed the finish line, between Lizard and Ushant at 14h 13mn 30s UT. The new record time is 3j 15h 25 mn 48s at an average speed of 32,94knots over a distance of 2921 miles. They take the record from Groupama 3 who led the way for most of the crossing having passed Ambrose Light off New York 2 hrs and 45 minutes earlier. They were passed by Banque Populair V earlier today. This 40m trimaran was launched a year ago and has so far not managed to show her potential but her speed has never been in doubt. It has been surprising just how fast she is. She has set a new 24 hr record of 908 miles at an average speed of 37,8 knots, quite extraordinary. Banque Populaire has broken the existing record by 12 hours 32mn et 6s. Groupama 3 improved her record by 9h 44mn finishing in 3d 18h 12mn 56s at an average speed of 31.92 knots, just 2 hrs, 12 mins behind. Commenting on the record attempt Franck cammas of Groupama comments: "Since Saturday evening, we've been accompanied by a slightly gentler breeze, but there's always been a few clouds and gusts around and we've been sailing fairly close to the wind. We're making headway under heavy gennaker and mainsail and we're still progressing fairly quickly...
Banque Populaire V has an impressive speed potential! We suspected she could go faster than Groupama 3 in these weather conditions, especially in a 24 hour record bid: 5% better is a big deal. As regards trajectory and rhythm, we've done what we set out to do, but they've set the standard very high and this Translatlantic record attempt will be very hard to beat because the weather has been practically perfect... They've driven their boat very, very fast. It'll be a superb time at Lizard Point! Bravo to Pascal and his crew! Nevertheless I'm surprised by their speed: they were conditions which suited them, but they pushed the boat close to her maximum for a very long time. It's their first record and it's superb for them. We also pushed Groupama 3 harder than we've done before and we can still get more out of her. We should finish at around 1430 UT, even though the wind is set to ease over the final stretch. It's a fantastic time that Groupama 3 will set nonetheless! Around ten hours less equates to 10% more speed... We'll beat our own record. It's good training for the whole crew as it will be virtually the same for the Jules Verne Trophy. We know the boat's limits better now as we've gained nearly 60 miles on the 24 hour record... The round the world is a bit different in terms of format as these fairly open points of sail at full power aren't in the majority. The game of tactics and strategy will be more open than on a Transatlantic attempt." North Atlantic Record:
Arrival time at Cape Lizard : 2 August 2009 at 16h 13mn 13s French time (14h 13mn 13s UT). Distance : 2921 milles ( 5 410 km) Average speed : 32,94 noeuds Highest speed : 47,15 noeuds New reference time for the Atlantic crossing: 3j 15h 25 mn 48s 24hr Record Number of miles : 908 miles (1682 km) |
