Video Hyptere-Story
San Francisco, September 2, 2012
L’Hydroptère DCNS has set the nautical mile speed sailing record
in San Francisco and participated in the Ronstan Bridge to Bridge
The fastest yacht on the planet*, which arrived in California in July in a bid to secure the Transpacific Record (Los Angeles - Honolulu), set the record around the legendary San Francisco Bay yesterday, 31 August 2012.
Alain Thébault, designer and skipper of l’Hydroptère DCNS, and his crew, Jean Le Cam, Jacques Vincent, Yves Parlier, as well as several other sailors, were the first to establish the San Francisco Bay nautical mile speed record (1,852 kilometres). Friday, in the early afternoon (local time), l’Hydroptère DCNS covered this distance at an average speed of 37,5 knots* (or 69,5 km/hr), making her first mark in this iconic bay that sweeps California.
With the record in the bag, Alain Thébault and his men then took part in the Ronstan Bridge to Bridge Race organised by the St Francis Yacht Club. Theirs was a symbolic participation because, for safety reasons, l’Hydroptère DCNS set off a few minutes before the official start given the horde of windsurfers, kitesurfers and sports dinghies. Basically Alain Thébault and his crew remained at the head of the fleet from beginning to end and managed to thwart the numerous pitfalls dotted along the 7 miles or so of course between Golden Gate Bridge and Bay Bridge. The crew were able to tease the potential from the flying trimaran despite the current, the big chop and the very deep running conditions. They successfully got around the wind shadow of the island of Alcatraz and then flew along to the finish line.
This comes as the first reward for Alain Thébault, skipper and designer of l’Hydroptère DCNS and his crew in their preparation for the project’s major offshore challenge, which will involve trying to set the Transpacific Record between Los Angeles and Honolulu. The ultimate aim is to demonstrate the offshore potential of ‘flying’ sail boats.
* Alain Thébault has held the outright speed sailing record over one nautical mile (50.17 knots at an average of 95km/hr) since 2009.
* record awaiting approval by the YRA (Yacht Racing Association).
Downloading the video image bank Newscastwire : http://www.newscastwire.com/en/org/dcns http://www.newscastwire.com/fr/org/dcns
or Website : www.hydroptere.com http://www.hydroptere.com (go in the footer of the page and then click on “Accès presse” or “Press Access”)
Rights' free photos for press use respecting the photo credit :
https://agencelignebleue.extranet-e.net/?data_id=497&pwd=d86421acb55f8a7ed50cec1bd43bdb30
© Erik Simonson
https://agencelignebleue.extranet-e.net/?data_id=493&pwd=c282671fd029bb596a5042a222478d6b
© Erik Simonson
https://agencelignebleue.extranet-e.net/?data_id=502&pwd=db6bf2c0c13c5e3d8304dcc47feaeda9
© Erik Simonson
L'hydroptere speed trials - August 31 2012
Run
Start Lat
Start Long
Finish Lat
Finish Long
Distance (N. Miles)
Mag. heading
Time (sec)
Speed (knots)
1
37
50,000
122
26,993
37
49,563
122
25,806
1,034
100
106
35,1
2
37
50,000
122
26,993
37
49,550
122
25,816
1,033
101
98
37,9
3
37
50,000
122
26,993
37
49,395
122
26,054
0,957
114
110
31,3
4
37
50,000
122
26,993
37
49,273
122
26,046
1,043
119
102
36,8
5
37
50,000
122
26,993
37
49,270
122
26,066
1,034
120
105
35,4
https://agencelignebleue.extranet-e.net/?data_id=479&pwd=f0100d56ef8d1de01039c1a5aa643cff More information about The Hydroptère project and the main sponsor DCNS
http://www.newscastwire.com/fr/org/dcns
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