Yachts & Yachting — February 2018

won the Transat Jaques Vabre in the

same year. Unlike the two very latest

Ultim launches in Gitana 17 and Banque

Populaire IX, Macif has not been

designed with fully liing hydrofoils but

instead has a small amount of foil li

built in from the ‘L’ shaped foils on each

oat, to provide a skimming mode at her

highest speeds. However, the team are in

the process of considering a move to a

fully foiling set up for e Race in 2019,

which will see Ultim class tris competing

in a non-stop round the world race,

starting from Brest, France.

RECORDS AND NUMBERS

e solo round the world record is not

the only one to fall at the hands of

Gabart in this impressive attempt. In the

course of setting the new outright solo

record the talented Frenchman also set: a

new solo Ouessant to the Equator record;

a new solo Equator to the Equator (via

the Great Capes) record; a new outright

Cape Horn to the Equator record; and a

new solo 24 hour record, notching up

851 miles in just one 24 hour period.

Gabart’s completion of the 27,

miles in 42 days makes his average sailed

speed some 27.2 knots, or an average

daily run of around 650nm. To once

again gain some perspective on those

gures, until 2012 the world record solo

pace over 24 hours was 666.2nm.

ere are many factors in a round the

world record and to a degree many of

them are cumulative. Of course the

ability of the sailor is paramount and

there will always be an element of luck to

getting the best weather window. But in

the modern era, as routing gets better

and boats get faster, sailors have the

ability to sail quickly to systems they

know will be advantageous. One can

only wonder what sort if times might

be possible in the coming years?

MACIF EFFORT

Less than a year after a new solo round the world record was set, it has

been smashed by Frenchman François Gabart. TOBY HEPPELL reports

Above

Gabart took more

than six days o

the solo round

the world record

Right

Celebrating on

return to France

NEWS SPOTLIGHT SOLO RECORD

Gabart vs Coville in time and distance

Ecuador: 140 miles behind3h 34min behind

Cap des Aiguilles: 829 miles ahead 2d 06h 24min ahead

Cape Leeuwin: 653 miles ahead1d 12h 59min ahead

Tasmania: 687 miles ahead1d 05h 02min ahead

Cape Horn: 1,215 milest ahead2d 08h 15min ahead

Ecuador return: 1,990 miles ahead5d 13h 23min ahead

Ouessant: 2,810 miles ahead6d 10h 23min ahead

February 2018 Yachts & Yachting 11

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