After his finish of The Transat âeuros from which he finished first âeuros, François Gabart has decided to return to France aboard his trimaran Macif in record mode. He will try to beat the North Atlantic Record - between the Ambrose Lighthouse off New York and the Lizard Cape lighthouse in southwest England - currently held by Francis Joyon since 2013. The latter took 5 days 02 hours 56 minutes and 10 seconds.
Stand-by period
The Macif trimaran has been on standby waiting for a favourable weather window since 1st January er last June. François Gabart hopes to beat the record, but above all to go under the symbolic 5 days mark. "I think François can improve the record if you consider the speed of the new boats, which is now greater than a few years ago. We can still gain a day on a more direct route, provided we find and follow the right depression. It is likely that with the MACIF trimaran, François will be the first to break the 5-day barrier on this transatlantic course explains Francis Joyon.
The weather, a crucial element
But the weather âeuros which plays a crucial role in a record âeuros is not there. Without a good weather window, François Gabart will not be able to reach England as quickly as possible, as Jean-Yves Bernot, the Macif skipper's router and already in charge of the weather analysis with Francis Joyon in 2013, explains "The first element of explanation is structural, you need wind to move forward. For the MACIF trimaran, the ideal conditions would be wind not too strong around 25 knots, a good angle downwind and if possible close to the direct route so as not to make a course too long."
Last week of waiting
It will soon be a month since the trimaran Macif was moored in the Gateway marina in New York. The weeks are going by and they look the same, as once again, no departure was possible this week. The team continues to scrutinize the weather files in search of a favorable window to set off. "The situation has been the same for a month. It's a bit complicated, because we don't have a weather system that would allow us to cross the Atlantic in record mode." explains Pascal Bidégorry, co-skipper of François Gabart in the last Transat Jacques Vabre.
Nevertheless, the weather could be good next week. "We may have a high pressure system moving into the middle of the Atlantic with an interesting SW'ly flow. The low-pressure system would take us on a fairly northerly route. The problem is that at this time of year, there is still ice. We'll have to wait another 20 days or so for more favorable conditions
But François Gabart can't wait another 20 days as he has to be present at the Brest Maritime Festivities from July 13th. The skipper and his team have therefore stopped the stand-by period on July 2.
In the event that the weather conditions are unfavorable for the solo record attempt, François Gabart will return next week with the members of the technical team.
