Gabart Smashes Solo 24-Hour Record

The hits just keep on coming for François Gabart and his new maxi-trimaran Macif. After claiming victory in May’s Transat Bakerly solo race from Plymouth, UK, to New York — sailing the course in 8 days and change — the Frenchman took a shot at the solo transatlantic west-to-east record, currently held by Francis Joyon and his trimaran IDEC with an incredibly fast time of 5 days, 2 hours and 56 minutes. Gabart and team waited for more than a month before the ideal window presented itself. They scheduled a departure on Saturday only to be delayed for hours by intense thunderstorms off New York.

Once underway, Gabart made quick progress in 30 knots of southwesterly breeze. Consistently sailing in the 33- to 34-knot boatspeed range, Macif began closing in on an entirely different record; the solo 24-hour speed record, which had been re-set just a month ago by Thomas Coville and his maxi-tri Sodebo Ultim at a staggering 714 miles in 24 hours. On Sunday, Gabart eclipsed the record and then continued to break it every hour for about half a day before the breeze backed off. Not just breaking the record but smashing it to bits, Gabart and his new VPLP 100-footer put up a truly astonishing figure of 785 miles sailed over 24 hours. Once the new record is ratified, Gabart will hold both the solo monohull and multihull 24-hour records after his incredible 545.3-mile day en route to winning the 2012-13 Vendeé Globe.

Shortly after breaking the multihull record, Gabart revealed that, due to the thunderstorm-induced delay in New York, he had missed the ideal weather window for the second half of the course and would abandon the transatlantic record attempt.