Is François Gabart about to become the fastest single-handed sailor in the world? He, who set off on 4 November last year to beat the single-handed round-the-world record on his trimaran Macif did not expect so much, as he had told us at a interview . "Yes, it's possible, but it's going to be very difficult, almost impossible. (NDRL: To beat Thomas Coville's record). It's not being defeatist to say that. You can believe it, but what Thomas has done is incredible! To beat him by one second would already be exceptional. If I have the chance to beat him by more than a second, that would be great. If I can beat him by several days, that's wonderful."
At the start, the young sailor was a little late, crossing Ecuador on November 10 - after 6 days - 3 hours 34 minutes behind the reference time. But then he had a string of successes, setting all the records:
? 24-hour solo distance record with 851 miles on the clock on November 14th
? Absolute record at the Cape of Good Hope after 11 days 22 hours and 20 minutes, November 16
? Record at Cape Leeuwin in 19 days 14 hours and 10 minutes on November 24th
? Pacific Crossing Record in 29 days 03 hours and 15 minutes, December 3
? Ecuador record after 36 d 1 hr and 30 min, December 10
And grabbing mile after mile an incredible lead over its predecessor. Today he has a 2691 mile lead! He's now on the way to becoming a legend with an express round the world race completed in 43 days and a crossing of the line on the morning of Sunday 17th December. For the time being, as he explains, he is now behind a ridge of high pressure which, like him, is moving towards Brittany.
"I'm just behind a ridge of high pressure, it's the last obstacle between Brest and me. I'm stumbling into it a bit, but luckily it's not static and it's moving towards Brittany. I'm going to have a hard time overtaking it, so the challenge is to try to pick up everything I can on this ridge of high pressure by rounding it to the north where there's still a bit of wind. So I'm going to have a very northerly route, probably not very far from Ireland. Then, in the Celtic Sea, between the Fastnet and England, I hope the wind will pick up, which would allow me to finish with a bit of air. As the finish line is between Cape Lizard and Ushant, it's not impossible that I'll be crossing the line further towards Cape Lizard, we'll see with the weather cell depending on how the wind returns during the night of Saturday to Sunday. For the moment, the ETAs are giving an early arrival on Sunday morning, 5-6 h UTC (6-7 h in France)."
An apprehended return to land
Finding land when you have just spent more than 40 days at sea is not an easy moment. Alternating between the joy of being reunited with his loved ones and questioning the fact that he is under great pressure, François Gabart is above all afraid of being very tired, as he explains "Of course I'm looking forward to getting back to the land and my loved ones, but yes, there is a little apprehension. It's more related to my fairly advanced state of fatigue: I know there's going to be a lot of people, a lot of demands, and that the transition is going to be a bit brutal. It's not so easy to deal with, because you don't want to disappoint the people who come to welcome you and at the same time you don't know if you'll have enough energy."
