North Atlantic record tumbles to Banque Populaire V

The crew of Banque Populaire V after breaking the North Atlantic record. Image © BPCE/Benoit Stichelbaut, used with permission

After 6 weeks on stand-by in New York city, Pascal Bidégorry and his team aboard Banque Populaire V sprinted across the North Atlantic to smash the previous record by 12 hours and 32 minutes on August 2nd. In a dramatic downwind drag-race across the North Atlantic (a “duel Atlantique”), the 40m long Banque Populaire V arrived off Lizard Point just 12 minutes before Franck Cammas and his crew aboard the 31.5m long Groupama 3 (the previous record holder) who left New York 2 hours and 35 minutes ahead. Groupama 3 also beat their 2007 record, but they were not as fast as Banque Populaire V. The new record stands at 3 days 15 hours 25 minutes and 48 seconds, an average speed of 32.9 knots.

On the third day of the crossing, Banque Populaire V also established a new record for the distance covered in a 24 hour period, covering an incredible 907 nautical miles (1,044 miles or 1,680km) at an average speed of 37.79 knots (70 km/h). The fastest speed achieved on the crossing by the world’s largest trimaran was 46 knots (85 km/h).

Both trimarans decided to depart from New York city into the same weather window, and after a slow start on day 1 they were rewarded with around 30 knots of wind at an ideal angle (130°) by day 2. Groupama 3 was the faster of the two boats when the winds were below 20 knots, but when the winds went over 25 knots Banque Populaire V was the faster boat, taking advantage of her longer waterline.

On breaking the record, Pascal Bidégorry said “I did not think we could go through so quickly. We did not ask whether we could better the time of 2007. We stayed focused on the weather, strategy and progress of the boat, obsessed only with squeezing the most speed out of the boat. Banque Populaire V is unique and we are all extremely proud to sail on this exceptional boat.”

Arriving off Lizard Point after breaking the North Atlantic record. Image © BPCE/Benoit Stichelbaut, used with permission

This was a truly awesome drag-race between two of the most advanced sailing machines on the planet – and they are likely to meet again as both boats go into preparation for an around-the-world attempt for the Jules Verne trophy.

The team aboard Groupama 3 arriving off Lizard Point. They broke their 2007 record, but were not as fast as the larger Banque Populaire V. Image © SEA&CO /Benoit Stichelbaut, used with permission

The Discovery Route will have to wait as the French head for New York

Following several months of waiting for a suitable weather window which never arrived ("pas de fenetre météo favourable"), two of the world's most advanced trimarans have abandoned their attempts on the Discovery Route record for now - and both are headed to New York for an attempt on the North Atlantic record.

The crew of the 40m (131ft) Banque Populaire V under the leadership of Pascal Bidégorry have left their stand-by port of Cadiz in Spain and headed for New York via their regular home base of Lorient, expecting to be on stand-by for the record attempt by June 26th.

At the same time, Thomas Coville and a small crew are currently sailing Sodeb'O from La Trinité-sur-Mer to New York to stand-by for a solo attempt on the North Atlantic record.

The North Atlantic route takes sailors from New York to Lizard Point in Cornwall, the southern-most point in the UK. The current record holder is Groupama 3, sailed by Franck Cammas and a crew of 9. They made the crossing in 4 days 3 hours 57 minutes and 54 seconds - an average speed of 28.65 knots over the 2,925 mile course.

Attempts: Embouteillage de route Découverte?

(traffic jam on the Discovery Route?)

While Pascal Bidegorry and the crew of Banque Populaire V have been waiting in Cadiz for many weeks, Thomas Coville has only just arrived in La Trinite su mer during the last week or so, and is set to head off on a single-handed attempt at the Discovery Route. So its possible we may see two mega-trimarans racing the clock across the Atlantic when the weather looks good!

Check out Coville's Sodeb'O website for news of his imminent departure.

That's trimaran cool...

Attempts: World's largest sailing trimaran tries for the Discovery Route record

One of the great things about the world of sailing trimarans is the incredible diversity you can find - this post comes from the top end of the “Trimaran Cool Richter scale”… the world’s largest sailing trimaran is about to start stretching her legs on the first of several warm-up runs in preparation for an attempt at the Jules Verne Trophy (fastest non-stop crewed lap of the planet).

The boat is Banque Populaire V, the latest in a range of vessels campaigned by Frenchman Pascal Bidégorry. She is a 40m long behemoth, designed on the CAD workstations at VPLP and built by JMV Industrie in Cherbourg (main hull) and CDK Technologies in La Forêt Fouesnant (floats and beams). Her first warm-up run is an attempt at the Discovery route record, which is currently held by Frank Cammas on Groupama 3, at 7 days 10 hours 58 minutes and 53 seconds, an average speed of 21.79 knots.

Banque Populaire V after her launch in Nantes, October 2008 (photo by Pymouss44)

The Discovery Route (la Route de la Découverte) - from the port of Cadiz on Spain’s Atlantic coast to the island of San Salvador island in the Bahamas - is named in honour of the first voyage of discovery made by Christopher Columbus in 1492. Columbus’ fleet of 3 boats took around 30 days for the original voyage.

As I write this Banque Populaire V is on stand-by in Cadiz waiting for a favourable weather window. This Discovery Route attempt will be the first serious sailing for the new boat, however she already reached 40 knots during the overnight positioning journey from her regular base in Lorient to the starting point in Cadiz.

The Banque Populaire website has lots of details as well as a route map which will show the boat’s progress once she sets off. There are also some great videos showing her at speed. The site is all in French, but you can get a reasonable translation using Google Translate.

I’m looking forward to seeing Banque Populaire V show her stuff…