The Fabrique Sailing Team - the former IMOCA MACSF (ex Brit Air), equipped with foils in the first half of 2018 - was launched again on Monday 3 June 2019, in the port of Lorient, after a short spring refit. After a few validation outings of the work carried out - particularly on the ballast tanks and sail plan - his skipper Alan Roura is preparing to try to break the North Atlantic record, in monohull and solo, between the Ambrose lighthouse (New York) and Cape Lizard (Great Britain).
This Friday, June 21, Cyril Enjalran, boat captain, Gilles Avril, technical director, Sébastien Audigane, co-skipper, and Alexis Monier, technical assistant set sail for a crewed delivery across the Atlantic. They will be heading to Newport (United States, Rhodes Island), where the Swiss skipper will join them in about two weeks' time.
Alan will then wait for a weather window for this record attempt from west to east of about 2?880 miles. It will have to beat Marc Guillemot's reference time of 8 days, 5 hours 20 minutes and 20 seconds, set in July 2013 on Safran, IMOCA with straight daggerboards, now in Isabelle Joschke's hands under the name MACSF.
"I already wanted to try this record on the return of the last Route du Rhum explains Alan Roura. But neither the boat nor the man was in any condition and I didn't want to try my luck without being in optimal conditions. With a relatively calm year 2019 in IMOCA, the opportunity to start this summer was ideal."
The young skipper should therefore set off in July if the weather conditions are right.
