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Alain Thébault and crew are on their way to Hawaii.
Flying 1st class.
Aboard the Foiling Trimaran Hydroptere
The current record is 4 Days, 19 hours, 31 minutes and 37 seconds, established in 2005 by the 90' Geronimo, sailed by Olivier de Kersauson & averaged 19.17 knots
Tracker
Dimensions
Length: 18.28 meters (60 ft)
Overall length: 18.28 + 4.5 = 22.78 meters (74,7 ft)
Length of the floats: 6,7 meters (22 ft)
Span: 24 meters (79 ft)
Draft: from 1.5 to 4.5 meters (4 meters = 13 ft)
Height of the crew above water: between 3 to 6 meters (5 meters = 16 ft)
Mast: 28 meters (92 ft)
Length of the foils: 6 meters (19,7 ft)
Weight: 7,5 tons
Sails
Gennaker area: 315 m² (3391 s.f.)
Mainsail area: 185 m² (1991 s.f.)
Maximum sail area in flight: mainsail + gennaker + staysail = 185 + 315 + 60 = 560 m² (6034 s.f.)
Speed
Wind speed required to take off: 12 knots stabilized
Speed of the boat: About twice the wind speed (she sails at 30 knots with 15 knots of established wind)
Maximum speed: 56 knots (= 104 km/h = 65 mi/h)
Maximum average speed: 50.17 knots on one nautical mile (outright speed record = 93 km/h = 58 mi/h)
The Channel crossing record
Hydroptere smashed Louis Blériot's motorized performance. The first flying sailboat is faster than the first plane.
Date: 9th February 2005
Distance: Dover-Calais i.e. 19 miles (approx. 35.2 km)
Duration: 34 minutes and 24 seconds
Average speed: 33 knots (61.12 km/h)
World speed records
World Sailing Speed Record Council (WSSRC)
Date: 4th April 2007
Speed record in category D over 500 meters: average of 44.81 knots
Outright nautical mile record: average of 41.69 knots
Date: 2008
Speed record in category D over 500 meters: average of 46.88 knots
Outright nautical mile record: average of 43.09 knots.
Wind barrier
On 21st December 2008 Hydroptere is the first sailing boat to cross the 50-knot sailing speed barrier (92.6 km/h) and then 100 km/h with a top speed at 56.3 knots (104 km/h).
Absolute records
World Sailing Speed Record Council (WSSRC)
Absolute speed record on 500 meters
Date: 4th September 2009
Speed: Average of 51.36 knots (today the Australian Paul Larsen on Vestas Sailrocket is holder of the record at an average of 65.45 knots).
Hydroptere is still holder of the world record in D-Class (Over 300 ft²).
Outright nautical mile record (1,852 meters)
Date: 8th November 2009
Speed: Average of 50.17 knots over one nautical mile (today Paul Larsen on Vestas Sailrocket is holder of the record at an average of 55.32 knots).
One-mile sailing speed record on San Francisco Bay
Race committee under the authority of the Yacht Racing Association of San Francisco Bay (YRA) and the San Francisco Bay Area Multihull Association (BAMA)
During their stand-by in San Francisco, Alain Thébault and his crewmembers learned that there was no official San Francisco bay nautical mile record. They decided to settle one in order to promote speed challenges in the bay. This record is a signal to all vessels with a great speed potential in the bay, in particular the AC72 which will be racing in 2013 for the America's Cup. Full press release here.
Date : September 1st 2012
Speed : average of 37,5 knots over one nautical mile (43.2 mph / 69.5 kph)
Kimball Livingston's Blue Planet Times adds some color to the story...
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