Frenchman sets record of circumnavigation in 49 days? How is this possible?

[Cadence]

It is nit picking as to whether it was a true circumnavigation. It was one hell of a feat of vessel and human endurance. It isn't on my bucket list!

[KenKo]

Saying that 25k miles circumnavigation (antipodal or not!) is like driving to work in presumably short daily commuting trips each pair separated by breakfast, work, lunch, dinner, perhaps some TV or a trip out to a movie and 7 or 8 hours of quiet and uninterrupted sleep) is one heck
of an analogy!
People who study analogical thinking have the concept of the "distance" between an analogy and what it's analogizing. From that perspective, this commuting as circumnavigation analogy should itself win some kind of distance award!

[leftbrainstuff]

The really interesting factoid is that wind beats power.

[bobnlesley]

Originally Posted by UNCIVILIZED

...prevent the boats from going so fast that they self destruct...

...pick & choose their weather...avoiding everything else out there at the same time. Manned, & otherwise.

...managing the boats, so as to minimize breakages, & avoid flipping...manage one's own energy, & emotional reserves...if you goof, bad things would likely ensue...

So other than achieving a fractionaly higher speed in a significantly more expensive vehicle, they're doing just the same as every other offshore sailor; in much the same way as an F1 car-racer's Sunday afternoon jaunt might be no further than similar ones undertaken by public road users on that same day, but the F1-driver gets to stop and have a few beers much sooner .

[barnakiel]

Originally Posted by Polux

That is a 60ft monohull versus a 102ft multihull.

(...)

Yeah. Just talkin'.

Have you seen the vids from the new foiling tris? The Gitana and the Macif?

It seems the Gitana video shows more foiling action. They may have gotten better wx too.

I think they are next in line to have a go at this record, uh?

Cheers,
barnakiel

[Cadence]

Originally Posted by barnakiel

Yeah. Just talkin'.

Have you seen the vids from the new foiling tris? The Gitana and the Macif?

It seems the Gitana video shows more foiling action. They may have gotten better wx too.

I think they are next in line to have a go at this record, uh?

Cheers,
barnakiel

Sometimes it doesn't seem like sailing? But to each his own and maybe advances in technology are more important than records.

[Polux]

Originally Posted by barnakiel

Yeah. Just talkin'.

Have you seen the vids from the new foiling tris? The Gitana and the Macif?

It seems the Gitana video shows more foiling action. They may have gotten better wx too.

I think they are next in line to have a go at this record, uh?

Cheers,
barnakiel

Not the boats, but the sailors and that means Gabart and Le Cleash, I bet both dream with the same: To have both solo records, the monohull and the multihull one. Difficult to imagine a bigger accomplishment as a sailor.

[Elie]

Originally Posted by SV DestinyAscen

He averaged about 24 knots - I read somewhere that he sailed some 600 miles in a 24 hour period around CV.

In re the winds - these solo circumnavigation nonstop records all follow the same route, head south until they catch the current and trades turn to port and sail as far south as they dare/needed to round the cape horn, turn to port again and sail home. Not the usual trades people are catching on the milkrun or crossing the Atlantic E/W, W/E.

It is a real circumnavigation: They sailed south, until reaching the souther ocean, then takeoff on the roller coaster ride in the roaring 40 and 50, t'il they reach the Cape Horn. Then it is the ride north and East to Europe.
The sailing machines are fantastic, but hard to control and very demanding on crew, and you need a special breed of sailors(mostly Bretons), to dare goeing to such extremes. And the design and the technology implied are top notch: From sail fabrication, to hull and underwater appendixes everything is up to the latest thincking and enginering .
Chapeaux bas as they say in France!

[Polux]

Originally Posted by Elie

It is a real circumnavigation: They sailed south, until reaching the souther ocean, then takeoff on the roller coaster ride in the roaring 40 and 50, t'il they reach the Cape Horn. Then it is the ride north and East to Europe.
The sailing machines are fantastic, but hard to control and very demanding on crew, and you need a special breed of sailors(mostly Bretons), to dare goeing to such extremes. And the design and the technology implied are top notch: From sail fabrication, to hull and underwater appendixes everything is up to the latest thincking and enginering .
Chapeaux bas as they say in France!

It is not they, because in this case it was a lonely sailor and yes it has to be truly a top sailor and there are several top solo sailors from Brittany but there was a certain British lady that hold this record for some time:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=elb-cus-Luo

[barnakiel]

Originally Posted by Cadence

Sometimes it doesn't seem like sailing? But to each his own and maybe advances in technology are more important than records.

I am OK with fast foilers. Wish I could sail one. Actually, given the proliferation, I think I may still have a chance.

Modern racing sailboats are so extreme that the foils do not really add much to the complication. The toothing stage will last a moment and then we all will be foiling as if nothing ever happened.

This trend will go into cruising one day soon too (it already has). You can have a lighter boat giving up somewhat on the ballast and getting extra stability from the foil. Then just pull in the foil in light winds and sail FASTER.

b.

[buzzstar]

When I first read, "Frenchman sets record of circumnavigation in 49 days? How is this possible?," I thought the question was about, how could a Frenchman do it? I recovered quickly, but the silliness of the very thought gave me a chuckle. BTW, no insult to French sailors intended; actually just the opposite.

[yeloya]

Originally Posted by Elie

Chapeaux bas as they say in France!

Chapeau for VPLP as well who turned out Geronimo that they designed and launched in 2001 into record breaking Sodemo 15 years later..
Amazing ..

From Geronimo to Sodebo Ultim’, fifteen innovative years - VPLP Design

Cheers

Yeloya

[Suijin]

Absolutely incredible accomplishment. The ride on that boat has to be enormously punishing, even with specialized provisions for sleeping and staying safe in the cabin. I'd imagine the Volvo boats are positively comfortable by comparison.

There is certainly a bit of luck involved, in terms of the weather working out in your favor to keep the boat moving at a record pace, but that should take nothing away from the feat.

As for the route being "artificial", that's just nonsense. By extension of that logic you could argue that a true circumnavigation would be a straight line that follows the maximum circumference of the planet, which is not possible. Crossing the equator twice and passing all the meridians is the long accepted route and any argument regarding it not being a true circumnavigation is so much pointless, abstract nit-picking.

[TheThunderbird]

Originally Posted by Suijin

Absolutely incredible accomplishment. The ride on that boat has to be enormously punishing, even with specialized provisions for sleeping and staying safe in the cabin. I'd imagine the Volvo boats are positively comfortable by comparison.

There is certainly a bit of luck involved, in terms of the weather working out in your favor to keep the boat moving at a record pace, but that should take nothing away from the feat.

As for the route being "artificial", that's just nonsense. By extension of that logic you could argue that a true circumnavigation would be a straight line that follows the maximum circumference of the planet, which is not possible. Crossing the equator twice and passing all the meridians is the long accepted route and any argument regarding it not being a true circumnavigation is so much pointless, abstract nit-picking.

Can anyone show the actual route in a map?

I think we can agree that Sir Chichester sailed along differently than someone dipping the Atlantic southbound, circling the pole and heading back north.

To me, if inquired, CIrcumnavigating means passing by cape Horn, cape of Good Hope, SOUTH of NZ, and be back in NOrthern emisphere exactly where you started from (although touching back the same continent on the other side is a C. Too, but not record-Wise, imo)

That said, bravery and good Lück are out of discussion

[billgewater]

He is French. His girlfriend/mistress/wife or any of these all had him on a promise. Or he forgot to turn the iron off. Whatever. A great performance.