François Gabart has set a new solo 24-hour speed record of an extraordinary 851 miles sailed in 24 hours on his 98′ trimaran MACIF. Gabart set the new record sailing in the South Atlantic, averaging 35.4 knots.
Gabarts’ record is only about 50 miles less than the all-time 24-hour distance record of 907.9 miles, set by Banque Populaire V in 2009 with a crew of 11.
As reported by Yachting World, Gabart is trying to break the solo round the world record set by Thomas Coville on Sodebo last year. This stands at 49d 3h, and to better it MACIF must arrive back at the finish line between The Lizard and Ushant by Christmas Eve.
Wow! I used to sail on a lot on multihulls, a lot of cats but most of my time (I think) was on trimarans. None were really hi tech, no fully battened sails, no rotating masts, not even roller furling foresails. Dick Newick tri’s are about as exotic as I like. I don’t particularly care for overly hi tech boats. I really don’t care for hydrofoils. A matter of taste. But that’s pretty awesome, a tri making 800+ miles in 24 hours.