Press Release No.7
Thursday 28th February – 1730 hours UT
La Route de l’Or (New York – San Francisco)
New record for Gitana 13 of 43 days 38 minutes
Gitana 13 crossed the finish line of La Route de l’Or, situated just off the
infamous island of Alcatraz in San Francisco Bay, at 1707 (UT). After over 43
days 38 minutes at sea, including a forced five and a half day stand-by at Cape
Horn, Lionel Lemonchois and his nine crew improved on the reference time held
since 1998 by Yves Parlier and his men by 14 days 2 hours and 43 minutes. The
maxi-catamaran in the colours of the LCF Rothschild Group covered the 14,000
miles, which separate New York from San Francisco at an average speed of 15.88
knots and thus set their first record time in their 2008 record campaign.
Setting out from New York on 16th January 2008, Lionel Lemonchois and his crew
made San Francisco this Thursday 28th February shortly after sunrise on the
Golden Gate Bridge. After over six weeks’ navigation, their names will be listed
as the new titleholders of this legendary record, created in honour of the
‘Gold’ seekers of the XIXth century. The winner of the Route du Rhum 2006 at the
helm of Gitana 11, now ‘captain’ of the maxi-catamaran, gives us his first
impressions.
Interview with Lionel Lemonchois
You’ve improved on the reference time held by Yves Parlier since 1998 by over 14
days. What are your first impressions?
“It’s evident that the potential of Yves Parlier’s boat (60 foot monohull
Aquitaine Innovations) and that of Gitana 13 are without compare. What is
interesting to compare are the weather conditions. In 1998, Yves – I remember as
I was there -, benefited from more advantageous conditions: Cape Horn didn’t
make him wait for five days and the climb up the Pacific was very favourable.
Personally this is the third time I’ve sailed this course and I've always found
it to be of the same meteorological complexity. The route is riddled with
obstacles and tricky passages to negotiate. Furthermore it’s very long! This
record requires you to perfectly manage the boat: in order not to break it, you
have to know when to go fast and when to ease off the pace.”
Why did you choose to attack La Route de l’Or, when no other maxi-multihull has
previously attempted it?
“We did it for the very fact that no maxi-multihull had ever tackled it and I
wanted to be the first to attempt it… I hope this will give others the idea and
the drive to set off on it. For me, La Route de l’Or is one of the most
interesting courses and it has a real historic legitimacy. Furthermore, it fits
perfectly into the Round the World record programme, which we have set ourselves
this year with the Gitana Team.
During my two participations alongside Isabelle Autissier, I was just a 'simple
crew member'. Personally, setting out on the New York – San Fransisco again as a
skipper of a 33 metre long catamaran and commanding a crew of nine men for
several weeks was a real challenge.”
Cape Horn proved rather inhospitable to you, how did the crew deal with the five
day wait there?
“Being stuck off Cape Horn was an eventuality that we had envisaged before we
set out. Of course we didn’t think we’d have to hang around there for five days,
but we saw it as a kind of fate and the important thing about this type of
journey is to complete it. In any case, it wasn’t possible to envisage ending up
to windward of the Patagonian coast with a wind of 60 knots and over; that would
have been suicidal.”
A word about the boat? And about your nine crew?
“Gitana 13 isn’t a modern boat; it has several circumnavigations under its belt
and has passed through the hands of a number of skippers: Loïck then Bruno
Peyron, Ellen MacArthur. The numerous improvements brought about by the Gitana
Team since Baron Benjamin de Rothschild purchased it in 2006 have enabled an
enhanced performance and viability. Gitana 13 really hasn’t disappointed.
Everybody aboard Gitana 13 during this record was chosen for their maritime
competence as well as their human qualities. For ten people to live together in
a restricted area for several weeks is a real challenge in itself. The
atmosphere aboard reindexed the same from start to end and everyone fulfilled
their role perfectly with tremendous conviviality and the very greatest respect
for each other. And this was true even in the most difficult times... No-one
complained and all of them are proud to be aboard Gitana 13.”
What is the single overriding memory you would take with you from this record?
“It is obvious on this type of course that the passage of Cape Horn reindexs the
high point of this crossing. Arriving in the area surrounding the 'rock' towards
the close of day with its sombre, imposing aspect, didn't leave us feeling
indifferent, particularly for those of us for whom this was the first rounding.
It’s a really emotional moment every time! Thank you to Baron Benjamin de
Rothschild for trusting in us and giving us the opportunity to attack this
record.”
What is next on your programme and that of Gitana 13?
“Our next objective is the record from San Francisco – Yokohama (held by
Geronimo with a time of 14 days 22 hours 40 minutes), with an intended departure
in three to four weeks' time. In the meantime, the boat will reindex on standby
in San Francisco and we’ll sit it out there until we can benefit from optimal
conditions for this course. It will also be an opportunity for a well earned
rest for my crew after over six weeks at sea. The whole crew will return to
France for a few weeks, with the exception of one person who will reindex here to
keep an eye on Gitana 13.”
Figures of the record
New reference time established by Gitana 13: 43 days 38 minutes (Provisional
time awaiting approval from the WSSRC)
Lionel Lemonchois and his nine crew members improved on Yves Parlier’s time by
14 days 2 hours 43 minutes
Start from New York: Wednesday 16th January, at 1629 (UT)
Passage of the equator: Wednesday 23rd January at 0724 (UT),
(Atlantic Coast) Passage time - 6 days 14 hours 52 minutes
Passage of Cape Horn: Friday 7th February at 2354 (UT),
Passage time - 22 days 7 hours 25 minutes
Passage at the equator: Tuesday 19th February at 1256 (UT),
(Pacific coast) Passage time - 26 days 17 hours 32 minutes
Arrival in San Francisco: Thursday 28th February at 1707 (UT)
Gitana 13’s Route de l’Or, week for week
Week 1 (from 16th to 23rd January)
On Wednesday 16th January at 1629 (UT), Gitana 13 set off on the first record
attempt of its 2008 campaign: bound for San Francisco via Cape Horn against the
prevailing winds. Lionel Lemonchois and his nine crew got off to a great start
in a NNW’ly air flow, which was very shifty in strength.
Four days after their departure and following a tussle against a high off
Bermuda, the men of Gitana Team reached the steady tradewinds of the Northern
hemisphere. “The start of this record has been fairly tiring as we had to do a
lot of work on deck to try to get the best out of the boat” highlighted Léopold
Lucet. The first Doldrums of this adventure proved to be very discrete, letting
the maxi-catamaran equipped by Baron Benjamin de Rothschild pass through like a
hot knife through butter. On Wednesday 23rd January at 0724 UT, less than a week
after setting out, Lionel Lemonchois and his crew reached the equator. They
racked up a very fine performance and established a great initial reference time
by covering the 4,000 miles separating New York and the equator in 6 days 14
hours 52 minutes! Four of the ten sailors onboard celebrated their first passage
of the ‘line’ separating the two hemispheres.
Week 2 (from 23rd to 30th January)
After their passage of the equator, Lionel Lemonchois and his nine crew required
composure and doggedness as the following week proved to be very tumultuous: the
clash of the hot tropical region and the humid Brazilian region churned out a
series of lows in the space of a few hours, thus upsetting the forecasts and
breaking up the fine tradewind mechanics from one day to the next: easing winds,
accelerations, calm zones, passages of fronts, the crew of Gitana 13 was
confronted every 300 miles by a new and different weather system as far as the
South of Argentina. “Since the Doldrums (from which they escaped on 23rd
January), things haven’t been easy! We have had to battle with some shifty
winds, both in strength and direction, and then had to try to avoid the pitfalls
of zones of squalls and then calms… it dragged on a bit!” confided Lionel
Lemonchois. However the maxi-catamaran’s speed enabled Lionel Lemonchois' men to
keep moving and zigzag their way between all the South American traps.
It was during this second week, that the ten sailors on Gitana Team performed
their first change of tack. Indeed, dDespite the vast amount of sail trimming,
the 33 metre long catamaran spent its first ten days at sea on a single tack.
Week 3 (from 30th January to 6th February)
Gitana 13 was then able to make southing, off the Argentinean coast, and the
further down the maxi-catamaran dropped, the more hostile the conditions off the
tip of South America became. “The 40 to 45 knot SW’ly gale, which scooped us up
along the North coast of Tierra del Fuego was just a taste of what was to come…
Some days ago, we looked into the wind and the sea state around the Horn in
particular with Sylvain. To commit ourselves to this zone, we’ll need at least a
60 hour window to cover the 1,000 miles, which separate us from 45° South, so as
to be sure to escape the next low in the sequence” explained Dominic Vittet.
Cape Horn constitutes one of the major difficulties of this record between New
York and San Francisco. And this year, the weather conditions, which were
reigning around the infamous rock at the start of February, forced Lionel
Lemonchois and nine solid crew to retrace their steps and sit it out on zone,
waiting for the weather to become more clement and stand a chance of passing
through into the Pacific. Initially scheduled for the day of Saturday 2nd
February – the birthday of ‘Captain’ Lemonchois! - salvation from the legendary
black cliff didn’t actually take place until some days later…
Week 4 (from 6th to 13th February)
After 5 and a half days wandering around in the shelter of the shores of Tierra
del Fuego – where Lionel Lemonchois and his men still had to endure 65 knot
gusts barepoled! - the lights turned green to use one of Nicolas Raynaud’s
expressions. At the end of 120 difficult miles in particularly big seas from Le
Maire Strait, Gitana 13 rounded Cape Horn from East to West on Thursday 7th
February at 2354 (UT), 22 days 7 hours 25 minutes after leaving New York. The
maxi-catamaran equipped by Baron Benjamin de Rothschild then had a total of six
new Cape Horners aboard, an honour which Lionel Lemonchois has had for a good
few years. “Under ORC and three reefs, here we are tacking in Le Maire Strait
for the third time in five days. The seas are still big, but fortunately, as
forecast, the wind and the seas are easing. It was at 2354 UT that we finally
passed to the South of the island of Cabo de Hornos. We still had to find a
little passage through this zone though and had we missed that gap we'd have had
to have waited another four to five days" explained Nicolas Raynaud.
And though the Horn marked the midway point of the course, it also meant the end
of the Atlantic Ocean and the start of the immense Pacific Ocean for the ten
crew of Gitana 13: some hostile waters, little known about but much feared by
sailors that have passed that way before. It proved to be a tough introduction
for Lionel Lemonchois and his crew.
Week 5 (from 13th to 20th February)
“With four weeks under our belt, already, only, we're not too sure anymore… The
only thing we’re really sure about is that San Francisco is still a long way
off! Although we virtually only adopted a 'useful' course for the first section
of our race against the clock, this climb towards the goal hasn’t enabled such
effectiveness. Yesterday, we covered 500 miles, but we made just 395 miles
towards the goal" it reads in the onboard commentary of 13th February. This
fifth week at sea was to be marked by the rounding of the Easter Island high,
which Lionel Lemonchois’ crew passed to the East of. It was in a moderate SE’ly
air flow that the ten sailors climbed up towards the Northern hemisphere amidst
a series of gybes. The next few days were spent under large gennaker and without
too much activity on deck, which they described as being restful prior to
tackling the Pacific Doldrums.
The maxi-catamaran in the colours of the LCF Rothschild Group, crossed the
equator on Tuesday 19th February at 1256 (UT), 33 days 8 hours and 27 minutes
after passing the Ambrose Light, which marks the entry into the port of New
York. "We’ve had the Statue of Liberty, the equator, Cape Horn, the equator
again, all that reindexs is the Golden Gate Bridge” joked Lionel Lemonchois
during his return into the Northern hemisphere, after sailing ‘upside down’ for
over 26 days!
Week 6 (from 20th to 27th February)
Though the Atlantic Inter-Tropical Convergence Zone proved to be rather mild to
say the least, its Pacific counterpart caused Lionel Lemonchois and his men no
end of trouble. Imagining themselves to be free of it on 21st February, the ten
sailors were caught up in a zone of calms it was dishing up and it took nearly
two extra days to definitively extract themselves from the equatorial front.
However, the last few miles still separating the maxi-catamaran from its final
destination weren’t going to be a walk in the park either: upwind sailing – a
point of sail which rarely appeals to Gitana 13 – at the edge of the Californian
high, was to punctuate the course leading them to San Francisco. On Tuesday 26th
February, less than two days from the finish, Lionel Lemonchois and his crew
found themselves caught between two very different weather situations leaving
them no choice but to zigzag from one to the other: “To our West there is a zone
of high pressure synonymous with light winds whilst to our East a corridor of
steadier winds is forming along the coast. The aim over these final 24 hours is
going to be to successively play these two phenomena off against each other. The
direct course is guiding us northwards, but as soon as the wind eases too much
we put in a tack to regain more pressure. Then as soon as the wind fills in
again, we make for the edge of the zone of high pressure once more… and vice
versa” Dominic Vittet summarized from the maxi-multihull’s chart table.
Thursday 28th February
The day dawned just a few hours before Gitana 13 slipped her bows under the
Golden Gate Bridge. Two and half miles further on, the island of Alcatraz and
its famous prison loomed up in front of them. The maxi-catamaran crossed the
finish line of La Route de l’Or at 1707 (UT) and Lionel Lemonchois and his nine
crew set a new record between New York and San Francisco of 43 days 38 minutes;
the first 33 metre catamaran in the colours of the Gitana Team.
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