Last May, we posted about Giovanni Soldini and the Maserati Sailing Team’s attempt to break the monohull sailing record from the Ambrose Lighthouse in New York to Lizard Point off the south west coast of England. That attempt was stymied by light winds. On New Year’s Eve, Soldini and his eight man Maserati crew slipped their moorings in New York’s North Cove and quietly embarked on an attempt to break the record for sailing the 13,225 nautical miles between New York and San Francisco. In 1854, the clipper ship, Flying Cloud, reached San Francisco in 89 days and 21 hours, setting a record that stood for more than 130 years. The current record was set in 1998 by Yves Parlier sailing Aquitaine Innovations, sailing from New York to San Francisco by way of Cape Horn in 57 days, 3 hours, 2 minutes.
Soldini’s Maserati crew leave New York before the ball drops
Just a`slight correction. The passage of the Flying Cloud from New York to San Francisco of 89 days 21 hours anchor to anchor occurred in 1851. She subsequently made her long-standing record passage of 89 days 8 hours anchor to anchor in 1854. Her captain on both passages was Josiah P. Creesy, the navigator his wife, Elanor. They made use of Matthew Fontaine Maury’s “Sailing Directions” for both passages.The passage of 1854 is the record broken in 1998, though a passage by a racing boat can hardly be compared with that of a fully loaded sailing cargo vessel.