Cape Horn is the last of the three capes that François Gabart rounded on Sunday 3rd December. He began by improving the solo reference time between Ushant and Cape Horn by 2 days 08 hours and 15 minutes, which has been held since 8th December 2016 by Thomas Coville in 31 days 11 hours and 30 minutes. The crewed record is still held in 26 days, 15 hours, 45 minutes by Idec Sport ( read Record at Cape Horn for Francis Joyon on Idec Sport ! ).
He also took advantage of this to beat a second record: the crossing of the South Pacific Tasmania-Cape Horn in 7 days 15 hours and 15 minutes. It was Thomas who once again lost the solo reference time of 8 days 18 hours 28 minutes 45 seconds ( read Two records in one for Thomas Coville on Sodebo Ultim' ). The icing on the cake is that François Gabart took advantage of this to beat the crewed record held by Francis Joyon and his crew IDEC Sport by 6 hours in 7 days 21 hours 13 minutes and 31 seconds. An absolute record.
Read again the interview that François Gabart had given to Bateaux.com a few days before his departure : It's a great challenge, I want to know what I can do .
The final objective of this round the world voyage is to beat Thomas Coville's solo round the world record (49 days 3 hours 4 minutes and 28 seconds). To achieve this, François Gabart will have to sail up the Atlantic in less than 20 days to reach Ushant before 23rd December.
