Press Release No.10. Sunday 30th March – 23h00 UT
San Francisco - Yokohama
Gitana 13 attacks the North Pacific crossing.
The stopwatch is back in action aboard Gitana 13. On standby in San
Francisco since 28th February – the completion date of La Route de l’Or-,
the maxi-catamaran equipped by Baron Benjamin de Rothschild set off this
Saturday 29th March at 22h45’45” UT, for a record attempt between San
Francisco and Yokohama.
The new holders of La Route de l’Or (New York – San Francisco), Lionel
Lemonchois and his ten crew are today tackling the North Pacific crossing.
And, in order that the men of the Gitana Team rack up another victory
they'll need to make Yokohama, Japan, in less than 14 days 22 hours 40
minutes and 41 seconds. The latter is the current reference time set by
Olivier de Kersauson and his team aboard Geronimo since 27th April 2006.
Eleven men have embarked on this second record
“The crew has been slightly modified in relation to that of La Route de
l’Or, since Jacques Vincent, Jean-Baptiste Epron, Cyril Dardashti Stefan
Fodor and Kojiro Shiraishi are joining us. There were ten of us onboard
Gitana 13 between New York and San Francisco, but there will be eleven of us
for the North Pacific crossing. Personally, I shall have a greater
involvement in the weather since the crew no longer has an appointed
navigator aboard” explained the skipper of Gitana 13, prior to giving us a
more in depth look at the 4,500 miles which lie ahead: “According to the
latest weather information, we should benefit from a fairly quick start for
the first few days and once we're out of San Francisco Bay, we'll hit a good
NW'ly air flow. The first part of our crossing is shaping up rather nicely
but, for the time being, things aren't very established for the second half,
particularly with the lows, which are piling in one after the other off the
Japanese coast.”
The presence of the Japanese sailor Kojiro Shiraishi, who was 2nd in the
Velux 5 Océans 2006-2007, will be a considerable asset for the crew of the
33 metre maxi-catamaran; especially at the approach to the Japanese coast,
renowned for its complexity.
The weather is always a tricky element and the Gitana Team are keeping to
their usual routine and will once again be able to count on the talent of
Sylvain Mondon (Météo France). The router shows us the weather configuration
for the start of this new record attempt: “Gitana 13 has set off at the rear
of a front in order to benefit from a NW’ly breeze, currently blowing along
the Californian coast. This wind, comprising an average of between 20 and 25
knots, may gust to between 30 and 35. It's quite a feisty start but it will
be interesting as the NW'ly wind angle will enable Lionel Lemonchois and his
men to make good headway whilst gaining ground in the SW and then quickly
the W, that's to say not too far off the direct course. The start of the
record promises to be quick but in the first 36 hours, the crew of Gitana 13
will have to negotiate a first high pressure passage. The Pacific Ocean is
not a very appropriate name as this ocean has rather a bad reputation. Given
its expanse, the systems which are circulating there often grow in size
during their crossing.”
A brief history
The current record holder, the crew of Geronimo set off on this same attempt
on 12th April 2006. Olivier de Kersauson and his men snatched the previous
record set by Steve Fossett back on 23rd May 1996. The American adventurer
set a reference time of 19 days 15 hours 18 minutes 9 seconds on the 60 foot
trimaran Lakota.
Ten years later, when Olivier de Kersauson and his ten men set off, the
conditions reigning over the Pacific forced them to choose a very southerly
route over the first few days at sea, distancing them from the direct
course. Though Geronimo made the most of it to pass between the Hawaiian
islands and rounded the mark of "Diamond head" after 4 days and 19 hours. In
so doing it established a new reference time between San Francisco and
Honolulu (Hawaii). This passage off Honolulu, also proved to be an
opportunity for Olivier de Kersauson and his crew to glean the record
between Honolulu and Yokohama, previously owned by Steve Fossett, in 13 days
and 20 hours.
On crossing the finish line of this North Pacific crossing on 27th April
2006, after 14 days 22 hours 40 minutes and 41 seconds at sea, the so-called
‘Admiral’ racked up yet another win.
The crew of Gitana 13
Lionel Lemonchois (Skipper / helm / watch leader)
Jacques Vincent (helm / watch leader)
Ludovic Aglaor (helm/ watch leader)
Olivier Wroczynski (trimmer /computer manager)
Nicolas Raynaud (trimmer/ Video manager)
David Boileau (N°2 / trimmer/ head of deck fittings)
Léopold Lucet (Bowman/ head of supplies)
Jean-Baptiste Epron (trimmer)
Stefan Fodor (trimmer)
Cyril Dardashti (trimmer)
Kojiro Shiraishi (trimmer)
A few figures
Route de l’Or (New York – San Francisco, via Cape Horn):
43 days 3 minutes 18 seconds (time approved by the WSSRC), improving on the
reference time set by Yves Parlier by over 14 days.
Lionel Lemonchois and the crew of Gitana 13 have held this record since 28th
February 2008.
North Pacific Crossing (San Francisco – Yokohama):
Time to beat – 14 days 22 hours 40 minutes 41 seconds
Departure from San Francisco – Saturday 29th March at 22h45’45” UT
Latest arrival date to beat the record - Sunday 13th April at 21h25’26” UT
Gitana, a passion for sailing
Spurred on by Baron Benjamin de Rothschild, the Gitana story opened towards
multihulls in 2000 with Gitana IX. An ‘armada’ followed with Gitana X in
2002, Gitana 11 (Ex-Belgacom) in 2004, then Gitana 12 (Ex-Bonduelle) in 2006
to replace Gitana X. In 2007, a year after the arrival of Loïck Peyron at
the head of the Gitana Team, the fleet diversified: Gitana 11, the 60 foot
Orma multihull and outright winner of the Route du Rhum 2006, was then
accompanied by Gitana Eighty, a 60 foot Imoca monohull, and Gitana 13, a 33
metre maxi-catamaran was devoted to discovery. Crewed records for Gitana 13
and solo races for Gitana Eighty: this new season already promises to etch
some fine lines in the histories of the Gitana boats…
Find all the latest about the Gitana Team at HYPERLINK
"http://pull.xmr3.com/p/686-100734-27C8/1181258/http-www.gitana-team.com-.ht
ml"www.gitana-team.com
Rights free photos and images for press use are available on request
Press contact: Zephyr Communication
Tiphaine Combot-Seta
+ 33 6 85 58 53 00 or HYPERLINK
"mailto:press@gitana-team.com"press@gitana-team.com
Photo credits: Yvan Zedda / Gitana SA – Video credits: Gitana S.A. / Even
Production
Translated by Kate Jennings – Expression
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