Tuesday, January 22, 2013

Record / Maserati and Soldini round Cape Horn against the wind

At 15.37 GMT Maserati has rounded Cape Horn against the prevailing wind and dominant streams. Giovanni, Guido, Corrado, Michele, Sébastien, Boris, Tiger, Ryan and Carlos left New York on December 31, 2012 attempting to break the historic record of the Golden Route. They rounded the mythical Cape Horn after 21 days, 23 hours and 14 minutes.

Credit : maserati.soldini

They did it in record time, considering that the 110 feet maxi catamaran Gitana 13, which holds the overall time record on the New York – San Francisco route, rounded Cape Horn in 2008 after 22 days, 7 hours and 25 minutes, i.e. 8 hours longer than the VOR 70 Maserati.

This because Gitana was forced to stand by for five days just before Cape Horn due to the strong winds.
We are really happy” says Giovanni speaking on the phone immediately after the passage. “We did a great time so far. We have been stuck in a windless area up to 10 miles from the Cape. Then – a couple of hours ago – we were just in time to haul the J4, hoist the Code 0 and reef when gusts of 20-25 knots suddenly arrived. We are now sailing with gusts of 35 knots, as expected. The wind is going to increase more over the next few hours”.

According to the World Sailing Speed Record Council (WSSRC) rules - the international body that certifies the best times of sailing boats on the historic route – the monohull Maserati has to break the time achieved by Yves Parlier in 1998, aboard Aquitaine Innovations: 57 days, 3 hours, 2 minutes.

The record in the category of multihulls achieved in 2008 by Lionel Lemonchois aboard Gitana 13 is 43 days, 3 minutes, 38 seconds.

From : Maserati Soldini