Transatlantic sailing record

Since the five-week voyage of Christopher Columbus in 1492, quickly and safely crossing the Atlantic Ocean between Europe and the Americas has always been an important issue. Today, the route has become a classic one among skippers. The record is one of the most prestigious, next to the Jules Verne Trophy, for which it is often a good preparation.

Banque Populaire V, current record holder

This record can be achieved both ways: from west to east or from east to west. It can also be homologated single-handed or crewed, on monohulls or on multihulls. It is homologated, since 1972, by the WSSRC[1]

From west to east

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This route is the fastest, as it follows the prevailing westerlies. It is the one that meets the most interest among skippers. The crossing must be made from Ambrose Light of New York to an imaginary line linking Lizard Point, Cornwall to Ushant. The distance is around 2,880 nautical miles (5,330 km; 3,310 mi).

Crewed [2]

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Time Yacht Skipper Crew Date Average speed
12d 04h 01m 19s   Atlantic Charlie Barr 1905 10.20 knots (18.89 km/h)
10d 05h 14m 20s [Multihull]   Paul Ricard (trimaran) Éric Tabarly Éric Bourhis, Georges Calvé, Dominique Pipat 1980 12.15 knots (22.50 km/h)
9d 10h 06m 34s   Elf Aquitaine Marc Pajot 1981 13.18 knots (24.41 km/h)
08d 16h 36m   Jet Services 2 Patrick Morvan Jean Le Cam, Marc Guillemot, (Serge Madec) 1984 14.29 knots (26.47 km/h)
07d 21h 05m 42s   Royale 2 Loïc Caradec 1985 15.76 knots (29.19 km/h)
07d 12h 49m 34s   Fleury Michon VIII Philippe Poupon 1987 16.48 knots (30.52 km/h)
07d 06h 32m   Jet Service V Serge Madec Marc Guillemot 1988 17.07 knots (31.61 km/h)
6d 13h 03m 32s   Jet Service V Serge Madec 1990 18.97 knots (35.13 km/h)
6d 17h 52m 39s Mari-Cha IV[3] Robert Miller 2003
4d 17h 28m 6s [Catamaran] PlayStation   Steve Fossett (USA)   Stan Honey (USA),
Ben Wright, Dave Scully, Gino Morrelli, Peter Hogg, Shaun Biddulph, Dave Calvert, Paul Van Dyke, David Weir
2001 26.26 knots (48.63 km/h)
4d 08h 23m 54s Orange II   Bruno Peyron (FRA)   Roger Nilson (SWE),
  Bernard Stamm (SUI),
Ludovic Aglaor, Florent Chastel, Pascal Bidégorry,
  Jacques Caraes (FRA),
Ronan Le Goff, Jean-Baptiste Epron, Yann Guichard, Clément Surtel, Jean-Baptiste Le Vaillant
2006 28.54 knots (52.86 km/h)
4d 03h 57m 54s Groupama 3   Franck Cammas (FRA)   Franck Proffit (FRA),
  Stève Ravussin (SUI),
  Frédéric Le Peutrec (FRA),
  Sébastien Audigane (FRA),
  Yann Guichard (FRA),
  Ronan Le Goff (FRA),
  Bruno Jeanjean (FRA),
  Loïc Le Mignon (FRA),
  Pascal Blouin (FRA)
2007 29.81 knots (55.21 km/h)
3d 15h 25min 48s Banque Populaire V (fastest multihull)   Pascal Bidégorry (FRA)   Ronan Lucas (FRA),
  Kévin Escoffier (FRA),
  Yvan Ravussin (SUI),
  Ewen Le Clech (FRA),
Sébastien Audigane, Florent Chastel, Jean-Baptiste Le Vaillant, Emmanuel Le Borgne, Marcel Van Triest, Pierre-Yves Moreau, Xavier Revil
2009 32.94 knots (61.00 km/h)
Monohull
5d 14h 21min 25s Comanche (fastest monohull[4])   Casey Smith (AUS)   Stan Honey (USA),
  Tony Mutter (USA),
  Dirk de Ridder (NED),
  Robert Greenhalgh (GBR),
  Shannon Falcone (USA),
  Yann Riou (FRA),
Chris Maxted, Jon von Schwarz, Juggy Clougher, Julien Cressant, Nick Dana,   Pablo Arrarte (ESP), Pepe Ribes, Peter van Niekerk, Phil Harmer, Richard Clarke
2016 21.44 knots (39.71 km/h)

Single-handed

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Groupama 3, previous record holder for both directions, from east to west and west to east, both crewed and singlehandedly under the name of IDEC Sport
Time Yacht Skipper Date Average speed
11d 11h 46m 36s   Explorer Bruno Peyron 1987
9d 21h 42m   Pierre 1er Florence Arthaud 1990
9d 19h 22m   Explorer Bruno Peyron July 1992
7d 02h 34m 42s   Primagaz Laurent Bourgnon June 1994 17.47 knots (32.35 km/h)
6d 04h 01m 37s   IDEC Francis Joyon 6 July 2005 19.75 knots (36.58 km/h)
5d 19h 29m 20s   Sodebo Thomas Coville 15 July 2008 24.72 knots (45.78 km/h)
5d 02h 56m 10s   IDEC 2 Francis Joyon 16 June 2013 27.47 knots (50.87 km/h)
5d 02h 07m   IDEC Sport Francis Joyon 13 July 2017 27.65 knots (51.21 km/h)
4d 11h 10m 23s   Sodebo Ultim Thomas Coville 15 July 2017 28.35 knots (52.50 km/h)

From east to west

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This crossing is made between Cadiz and San Salvador Island, for a distance of 3,884 nautical miles (7,193 km). It was also called Route of the discovery in honor of Christopher Columbus and his 1492 crossing.

Crewed

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Time Date Boat Boat Type Crew Notes Ref.
Outright
12d 12h 30m 27s 1988 Jet Service V Skipper -   Serge Madec (FRA),
  Marc Guillemot (FRA),
  Olivier Despaignes (FRA),
  Gerry Roufs (FRA),
  Jean-Yves Bernot (FRA)
14.91 knots (27.61 km/h)
10d 14h 53m 44s 2000   Club Med Skipper -   Grant Dalton (NZL),
Franck Proffit,
  Bruno Peyron (FRA)
17.58 knots (32.56 km/h)
9d 13h 30m 18s 2003   PlayStation Skipper -   Steve Fossett (USA),
Dave Scully,
Pete Melvin,
  Brian Thompson (GBR),
Peter Hogg,
Mark Featherstone,
Dave Calvert,
Mikaela Von Koskull,
Will Howden, Tim Zimmermann,
Nick Leggatt,
Simon Fisher,
Dave Thomson
16.92 knots (31.34 km/h)
7d 10h 58min 53s 2007   Groupama 3 Skipper -   Franck Cammas (FRA),
  Franck Proffit (FRA),
  Stève Ravussin (SUI),
Pascal Blouin,
Loic Le Mignon,
Bruno Jeanjean,
Sébastien Audigane,
Frédéric Le Peutrec,
Ronan Le Goff,
  Marcel Van Triest (NED)
21.70 knots (40.19 km/h)
6d 14h 29m 21s 2013 Spindrift 2 Skipper -   Dona Bertarelli (SUI)
Co-Skipper -   Yann Guichard (FRA)
Xavier Revil,
Jean Baptiste Le Vaillant,
Antoine Carraz,
Thierry Douillard,
Christophe Espagnon,
Sébastien Marsset,
Nicolas Texier,
Erwan Tabarly,
François Morvan,
Thomas Rouxel,
Simone Gaeta,
Erwan Israel
24.50 knots (45.37 km/h)
Singlehanded
6d 23h 42m 18s Jan 14 Banque Populaire VII   Armel Le Cleac'h (FRA) 23.16 knots (42.89 km/h)
8d 16h 07m 05s 2013-02-15 IDEC 2   Francis Joyon (FRA) 18.66 knots (34.56 km/h)
9d 20h 32m 23s 2008-11-07 IDEC 2   Francis Joyon (FRA) 16.42 knots (30.41 km/h)
10d 11h 50m 46s 2005-07-08 "Sodebo"   Thomas Coville (FRA) 15.42 knots (28.56 km/h)
11d 3h 17m 20s Nov 04 "Idec"   Francis Joyon (FRA) 14.53 knots (26.91 km/h)
Monohull. Initial benchmark time
10d 23h 9m 39s Feb 11 "Maserati" Giovanni Soldini ITA
60 ft. Initial benchmark time
11d 08h 55m 29s Mar 19 "Arkea Paprec" Simon Sebastien FRA
40 foot. Initial benchmark time
21d 11h 18m 25s Mar 15 "Extreme Sail Academy" Sergio Frattaruolo ITA

Bermuda to Plymouth

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2,870 nautical miles

Time Date Boat Boat Type Crew Notes Ref.
Outright
5d 11h 57m 17s May 16 Phaedo 3 Lloyd Thornburg USA
14d 06h 12m 50s Aug 04 "Mollymawk" Ross Hobson GBR
Monohull
13d 05h 19m 38s June 17 Talanta Mikael Ryking/Irina Gracheva SWE/RUS

Dakar to Guadeloupe

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2,551 nautical miles

Time Date Boat Boat Type Crew Notes Ref.
Open 20ft
11d 01h 09m 30s Apr 17 Feel Good Vittorio and Nico Malingri ITA
11d 11h 25m 42s Dec 07 Ocean Express Lequin/Moreau FRA

Plymouth to Newport

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2,800 nautical miles

Time Date Boat Boat Type Crew Notes Ref.
Outright
9d 08h 05m 20s Jun 94 "Primagaz" Laurent Bourgnon FRA
Singlehanded
9d 23h 54m 36s Jun 00 "Eure et Loire" Francis Joyon FRA
Female
14d 23h 11m Jun 00 "Kingfisher" Ellen MacArthur GBR
Monohull
13d 12h 47m Jun 12 "Vento Di Sardegna" Andrea Mura ITA

Notes and references

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  1. ^ "Ratified Passage". www.sailspeedrecords.com.
  2. ^ "WSSRC transatlantic W-E crewed".
  3. ^ "Historical list of Passage Records". www.sailspeedrecords.com. Retrieved 14 March 2019.
  4. ^ "Comanche Crushes Transatlantic Record >> Scuttlebutt Sailing News". 28 July 2016.

See also

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