After crossing the Equator in just under 6 days, François Gabart has gained speed since entering the South Atlantic. More than 200 miles ahead of Thomas Coville - the current solo round the world record holder - he is now aiming for the Cape of Good Hope. And he is going so fast that he has just set the 24-hour distance record, covering 818 miles from Monday to Tuesday afternoon (and that figure could still change). In order to avoid being caught up in winds which are too strong at his back, the skipper of Macif has clearly been working twice as hard...
He thus became the first solo yachtsman to pass the 800 mile mark in 24 hours and shattered his own record, which dated 3rd July 2016, namely 784 miles, at an average speed of 34 knots (63 km/h).
"I'm delighted. Records are made to be broken, that's how we progress. The sensations at these speeds are quite extraordinary, the boat flies, it's a mixture of power and lightness. Now, that's not the main objective, the idea is first of all to finish this round the world race..." explains the sailor.
Mainsail batten problems
Since his departure from Brest on Saturday 4 November at 10.05 am, François Gabart had been spared the technical glitches. But on Monday, he broke a mainsail batten, forcing him to lower and repair it quickly" The slat broke off in the front (near the mast) ...it's missing nine centimetres. Since there was a bit of extra at the back, I managed to push it forward. The sail isn't perfectly taut, but it's far from bad. I really didn't want to sail with this broken batten just as the wind was about to pick up, as it could tear the sail or damage the mast. Often little things like that don't get too out of hand if you get them in time. That's where most of the problem is solved."
The Roaring Forties
After a little over ten days of racing, François Gabart, who on Tuesday noted a ten-degree drop in temperature in 24 hours, reached midday in the 40 e s Roaring, i.e. in the latitudes of the Deep South that will henceforth be his daily life. " It's the start of a long conveyor belt that will take me to Cape Horn, where there's no turning back now. It's amazing to be able to sail around these places at high speed for days on end."
According to the latest routing, she should round Cape Good Hope (the first of the three mythical capes of the round the world voyage) this Thursday 16th November. That would be equivalent to a passage time of 12 days, which is around two days less than Thomas Coville, the round the world record holder, who took 14 days 04 hours and 44 minutes last year.
"I'm a dreamer, but honestly, 12 days, even in my wildest dreams, I never would have had the audacity to think about it. In our initial hypotheses, if we arrived in Thomas' time at Good Hope, even a day late, we'd be happy..." He still keeps his head on his shoulders." It's great to start with a bit of a head start, because it leaves more chance for the rest, every mile is good to go. Now, we have to keep a cool head: it's a long way to go, I hope I'll be as successful for the rest." concludes the sailor.
