Transatlantic sailing record

Since the five-week voyage of Christopher Columbus in 1492, crossing the Atlantic Ocean, quickly and safely, 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

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]
Time Yacht Skipper Crew Date Average speed
12d 4h 1m 19s Atlantic Charlie Barr 1905 10.20 knots (18.89 km/h)
10d 5h 14m 20s [Multihull] Paul Ricard Éric Tabarly Éric Bourhis, Georges Calvé, Dominique Pipat 1980 12.15 knots (22.50 km/h)
9d 10h 6m 34s Elf Aquitaine Marc Pajot 1981 13.18 knots (24.41 km/h)
8d 16h 36m Jet Services 2 Patrick Morvan Jean Le Cam, Marc Guillemot, (Serge Madec) 1984 14.29 knots (26.47 km/h)
7d 21h 5m 42s Royale 2 Loïc Caradec 1985 15.76 knots (29.19 km/h)
7d 12h 49m 34s Fleury Michon VIII Philippe Poupon 1987 16.48 knots (30.52 km/h)
7d 6h 32m Jet Service V Serge Madec Marc Guillemot 1988 17.07 knots (31.61 km/h)
6d 13h 3m 32s Jet Service V Serge Madec 1990 18.97 knots (35.13 km/h)
6d 17h 52m 39s MariCha IV[3] Robert Miller 2003
5d 14h 21min 25s [Monohull] Comanche (fastest monohull[4]) Casey Smith Stan Honey, Tony Mutter, Dirk de Ridder, Chris Maxted, Jon von Schwarz, Juggy Clougher, Julien Cressant, Nick Dana, Pablo Arrarte, Pepe Ribes, Peter van Niekerk, Phil Harmer, Richard Clarke, Robert Greenhalgh, Shannon Falcone, Yann Riou 2016 21.44 knots (39.71 km/h)
4d 17h 28m 6s [Catamaran] PlayStation Steve Fossett Stan Honey, 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 8h 23m 54s Orange II Bruno Peyron Roger Nilson, Bernard Stamm, Ludovic Aglaor, Florent Chastel, Pascal Bidégorry, Jacques Caraes, Ronan Le Goff, Jean-Baptiste Epron, Yann Guichard, Clément Surtel, Jean-Baptiste Le Vaillant 2006 28.54 knots (52.86 km/h)
4d 3h 57m 54s Groupama 3 Franck Cammas Franck Proffit, Stève Ravussin, Frédéric Le Peutrec, Sébastien Audigane, Yann Guichard, Ronan Le Goff, Bruno Jeanjean, Loïc Le Mignon, Pascal Blouin 2007 29.81 knots (55.21 km/h)
3d 15h 25min 48s Banque Populaire V (fastest multihull) Pascal Bidégorry Ronan Lucas, Kévin Escoffier, Yvan Ravussin, Ewen Le Clech, 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)

Single-handed
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 and 42min Pierre 1er Florence Arthaud 1990
9d 19h and 22min Explorer Bruno Peyron July 1992
7d 2h 34m 42s Primagaz Laurent Bourgnon June 1994 17.47 knots (32.35 km/h)
6d 4h 1m 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 2h 56m 10s IDEC 2 Francis Joyon 16 June 2013 27.47 knots (50.87 km/h)
5d 2h 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

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
Time Yacht Skipper Crew Date Average speed
12d 12h 30m 27s Jet Service V Serge Madec Marc Guillemot, Olivier Despaignes, Gerry Roufs, Jean-Yves Bernot 1988 14.91 knots (27.61 km/h)
10d 14h 53m 44s Club Med Grant Dalton Franck Proffit, Bruno Peyron 2000 17.58 knots (32.56 km/h)
9d 13h 30m 18s PlayStation Steve Fossett Dave Scully, Pete Melvin, Brian Thompson, Peter Hogg, Mark Featherstone, Dave Calvert, Mikaela Von Koskull, Will Howden, Tim Zimmermann, Nick Leggatt, Simon Fisher, Dave Thomson 2003 16.92 knots (31.34 km/h)
7d 10h 58min 53s Groupama 3 Franck Cammas Franck Proffit, Stève Ravussin, Pascal Blouin, Loic Le Mignon, Bruno Jeanjean, Sébastien Audigane, Frédéric Le Peutrec, Ronan Le Goff, Marcel Van Triest 2007 21.70 knots (40.19 km/h)
6d 14h 29m 21s[5] Spindrift 2 Dona Bertarelli & Yann Guichard 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 2013 24.50 knots (45.37 km/h)

Single-handed
Time Yacht Skipper Date Average speed
11d 3h 17m 20s[6] IDEC Francis Joyon November 2004 14.53 knots (26.91 km/h)
10d 11h 50m 20s Sodebo Thomas Coville 8 July 2005 15.42 knots (28.56 km/h)
9d 20h 35m 3s IDEC 2 Francis Joyon 7 November 2008 16.42 knots (30.41 km/h)
8d 16h 07m 5s IDEC 2 Francis Joyon 15 February 2013 18.66 knots (34.56 km/h)
6d 23h 42m 18s[7] Banque Populaire VII Armel Le Cleac'h January 2014 23.16 knots (42.89 km/h)

Notes and references
  1. WSSRC ratified passage records
  2. WSSRC transatlantic W-E crewed
  3. www.sailspeedrecords.com https://www.sailspeedrecords.com/offshore. Retrieved 14 March 2019. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  4. http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/2016/07/28/comanche-crushes-transatlantic-record/
  5. http://www.sailspeedrecords.com/offshore
  6. http://www.sailspeedrecords.com/offshore/
  7. http://www.sailspeedrecords.com/offshore

See also
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