Marc Guillemot shortly after the finish: "For the moment I'm just happy"
The French Marc Guillemot has set a new world record. For the route from New York, USA, to the Point Lizard off England's south coast, the skipper needed 8 days, 5 hours, 20 minutes and 20 seconds with his Imoc60 "Safran". Guillemot undercuts the record set by the Briton Alex Thomson from July last year by a full 15 hours, 48 minutes and 11 seconds. During the 2,880 nautical miles long ride across the North Atlantic, "Safran" achieved an average speed of 14.59 knots. "I am really very happy with this new record," said the skipper a few minutes after crossing the finish line at Point Lizard.
Along the lows to the world record
"I already had a very good speed at the start in New York," said Guillemot. However, especially during the initial phase of the Atlantic crossing, it was very exhausting to push "saffron" sufficiently, the Frenchman continues. Shipping traffic, flotsam and whales would hardly have allowed a minute of quiet at Newfoundland. Favorable weather conditions, however, gave Guillemot the opportunity to maneuver along a number of smaller lows and thus always drive the boat optimally. "I could probably have reached my destination even faster if the luck of the wind hadn't left me just before the English mainland. For now, however, I'm just happy."
"Safran" is now on the transfer back to her home port LTrinité-sur-Mer on the French west coast, before Marc Guillemot will compete with her in this year's Rolex Fastnet Race.