In so doing, she takes the Trophée Baume & Mercier for the day and becomes leader of the greatest distance covered since the start seven days ago. Marc Guessard : "We're sailing at 20-30 knots downwind (at and angle of 140° to the wind for the purists among you) and the sea is not too tough going. But the whole trick is to find the right adjustments so that Gitana remains controllable. We have to be extra vigilant as we could easily come a cropper " said the so-skipper during the official radio chat session today. "Inside it's hell let lose. The noise is unbearable. You can't hear yourself think. Outside it's like being inside a carwash ! luckily we have our little bubble to shield us from the elements when we're at the helm, otherwise it'd be impossible ! Thanks to Sylvain (Mondon, our router from Météo France) for his excellent analyses and recommendations since we left Le Havre and in particular since we called in at Porto Santo! ".
An average speed of more than 42 km/h...
"We've probably got 4-5 hours in these sorts of conditions. Things should calm down a bit after that. Till now, we've had ideal conditions to show this ocean-racing boat's true potential and quite how powerful she is !". Whilst the absolute 60-foot multihull record is 625 miles (1 157 km) in 24 hours, (Yvan Bourgnon on Bayer during the Québec Saint-Malo 2000), it ought to be pointed out that the 551 miles covered since midday yesterday were raced two up, not fully crewed. Sailing conditions which are incomparable : "We cannot leave the helm to the automatic pilot as it can't cope with speeds like these. So we're constantly taking turns at the helm and trimming. In 4-5 hours time, it'll have calmed down a little." Last but not least : 551 miles in 24 hours corresponds to an average speed of 23 knots 42.6 km/h! Now that commands respect!