François Gabart and his four crew broke the record for crossing the Mediterranean overnight from Saturday to Sunday aboard the flying maxi-multihull SVR Lazartigue, rallying Marseille to Tunis in 13 hours and 55 minutes, his team announced on Sunday. Gabart broke a record that Pascal Bidegorry and 11 crew had held for twelve years aboard Banque Populaire V (14 h 20 min 34 sec). Bidegorry was also alongside Gabart this weekend, as were Antoine Gautier, Émilien Lavigne and Guillaume Gatefait.
The five men, aboard a 32-meter-long maxi-trimaran capable of flying thanks to its foils (side appendages) and which left the shipyards last July, traveled the theoretical 455 miles (about 842 km) at the speed average of 33.7 knots/hour (about 62.5 km/h). Gabart, who has been in the Mediterranean for a month, explained that this attempt was not on the program but that he and his team members were to go to Tunis on Sunday “and it turns out that an episode of mistral was coming. So why not try (the record, editor’s note)?”.
The winner of the Vendée Globe 2012/2013 (race around the world alone non-stop aboard Imoca class monohulls) won a new record, he who also holds that of the solo round the world in 42 days 23 hours. The 39-year-old skipper is now at the helm of a new giant of the seas, the latest addition to an elite fleet. “With this boat, we have the ambition to win races but also to break other records. There are plenty of them that make us dream, especially the biggest, the Jules Verne Trophy (non-stop crewed round the world, record held by Francis Joyon on Idec Sport, in 40 days 23 hours)”, continued the sailor.
Gabart has registered for the Route du Rhum, a solo transatlantic race which will start on November 6 from Saint-Malo but, to date, he cannot take the start. To do this, he must present a measurement certificate issued by the Ultim class on which he depends and which refuses him this sesame because of a dispute over the conformity of the trimaran, relating to an international safety rule. Gabart took legal action.
