66 people surf a giant board for the Book of Records
On Sunday, June 21, 66 surfing enthusiasts gathered on Huntington Beach, California, to try to the record for the largest number of people on a single board to surf . And it is done since all these surfers in the making held 12 seconds standing on the board specially designed for the occasion - 12.8 meters long and 3 meters wide.
Yvan Bourgnon's round the world trip
Last June 23, Yvan Bourgnon completes his challenge to sail around the world in a non-inhabitable catamaran . He will have sailed 55,000 kilometers aboard his "Louloute", a non-inhabitable sport catamaran, for more than 20 months and thus completed the 1st round-the-world voyage in a non-inhabitable sailboat. In total, he will have completed 20 stages, crossed 3 oceans and 13 seas, but also beached his boat in Sri Lanka and organized a large crowdfunding operation to rebuild it and finish his challenge. A great human adventure!
The Lending Club 2 trimaran sets the Transpacific record
On July 19, Lending Club 2 (which is none other than the trimaran Idec Sport entered in the Jules Verne Trophy with Francis Joyon) set a new record in the Transpacific. Renaud Laplanche, a Frenchman living in San Francisco and creator of the Lending Club company, passionate about sailing and a seasoned skipper, accompanied by Ryan Breymaier, among others, reached Honolulu in 3 days 18 hours and 9 seconds with an average speed of 24.61 knots over 2215 minutes.
They left Los Angeles on July 15 and arrived in Hawaii on July 19. They thus dethrone Olivier de Kersauson, who held the record until then in 4 days, 19 hours, 31 minutes and 37 seconds, achieved in November 2005, aboard Geronimo.
To achieve this record (as well as a whole program of records) Renaud Laplanche rented the former Banque Populaire VII, before it passed into the hands of Francis Joyon, under the name of Idec Sport. ( From Groupama 3 to Idec Sport, here is the story of the trimaran of all records )
The voyage of the Hermione
Rebuilding an 18th century naval vessel to near-identical condition was a record in itself, a feat requiring 20 years of planning and work!
Departing on April 17, 2015 from the Charente estuary, the frigate will have taken a month and a half to cross the Altlantic. She arrived on June 2, 2015 on the American coast, welcomed by the destroyer USS Mitscher.
But it was during her return that the Hermione achieved real records. On July 29, the boat was heading to Brest when it encountered difficult weather conditions and was about to face a hurricane. While the whole crew was preparing for Dantean conditions - 70 knot winds (130 km/h) with gusts between 110 and 120 knots - it was not to be. The hurricane was reclassified as a storm and then as a gale.
And this storm was the opportunity for the replica of the La Fayette frigate to break a new speed record, with a peak of 13.3 knots reached twice during the day and nearly 11 knots average with 130 miles covered in 12 hours. The previous record was 12.7 knots during the 2014 sea trials.
Qingdao China Sets World Record for Arctic Ocean Crossing
The racing trimaran Qingdao China, led by Chinese skipper Guo Chuan, has just accomplished what no sailing boat has ever done. By sailing as far north as possible, it has just won the World record of the Arctic Ocean crossing, through the North-East passage .
After 13 days of sailing in the troubled waters of the Northeast Passage and 3240 nautical miles covered, Qingdao China, led by Chinese skipper Guo Chuan crossed the finish line of the Bering Strait at 16:48 UTC on September 15.
World record, largest catfish ever caught
On October 25, two friends fished the largest catfish ever caught in the world . Its measurements are impressive: 2.73 m long and 130 kilos. The record was approved by a bailiff and the animal was put back in the water.
Antoine Albeau sets a new windsurfing speed record
On Monday, November 2, Antoine Albeau, multiple windsurfing world champion, improved his previous record (52.05 N in 2012) by breaking the 53 knot barrier (53.27 knots). Before that, he made several attempts and ended up smashing the score. These attempts and the record were made on an artificial channel during the Lüderitz Speed Challenge in Namibia.
The Jules Verne Trophy
Spindrift 2 and Idec Sport have entered the Jules Verne Trophy both crossing the starting line from Ushant on November 22, 2015, a few hours apart. To beat Loïck Peyron's record, achieved in 45 days 13 hours and 42 minutes in 2012, the two trimarans will have to reach Ushant before 10 January 2016.
But before that, Spindrift 2 achieved several records: the Equator in 4d 21h
29m 2s, the best time on the Indian Ocean crossing (Cape Agulhas-Tasmania in 8d 04h 35') and especially between Ushant and the entry into the Pacific: 20 days 04 hours 37 minutes, the record of the anti-meridian in 22d 7h 43m 2s and that of Cape Horn in 30d 4h 7m 2s.
