l'Hydroptère, the previous nautical mile record holder

Speed sailing records are sanctioned, since 1972, by the World Sailing Speed Record Council (WSSRC). Records are measured either by average speed over a specified distance or by total distance traveled during a specified time interval. The three most sought after records are the:

500 metre records

DateCraftSkipperLocationSpeed (knots)Speed (km/h)Speed (mph)Comment
24 November 2012Vestas Sailrocket 2Paul Larsen AUSWalvis Bay, NAM65.45[1]121.175.2First record above 60 knots
18 November 2012Vestas Sailrocket 2Paul Larsen AUSWalvis Bay, NAM59.23[3]109.6968.1
28 October 2010KitesurfRobert Douglas USALüderitz, NAM55.65103.0664.0
28 October 2010KitesurfSebastien Cattelan FRALüderitz, NAM55.49102.7663.814 minutes before Robert Douglas' record. Homologated by the WSSRC.
12 October 2010KitesurfAlexandre Caizergues FRALüderitz, NAM54.10100.1962.3First record above 100 km/h
4 September 2009l'Hydroptère - hydrofoil trimaranAlain Thébault FRAHyères FRA51.3695.1159.1Nautical mile record broken on the same run. An instantaneous maximum speed of 55 knots was recorded.
2008KitesurfAlexandre Caizergues FRALüderitz, NAM50.5793.6558.2
2008KitesurfSebastien Cattelan FRALüderitz, NAM50.2693.0857.8First record above 50 knots
2008KitesurfRobert Douglas USALüderitz, NAM49.8492.3057.4
2008WindsurfAntoine Albeau FRAStes.Maries, FRA49.0990.9156.5
2005WindsurfFinian Maynard IRLStes.Maries, FRA48.7090.1956.0
2004WindsurfFinian Maynard IRLStes.Maries, FRA46.8286.7153.9
1993Yellow Pages Endeavour - proaSimon McKeon AUSSandy Point, AUS46.5286.1553.5
1991WindsurfThierry Bielak FRAStes.Maries, FRA44.6682.7151.4
1990WindsurfPascal Maka FRAStes.Maries, FRA43.0679.7449.5
1989 Catamaran Techniques Avancées Gérard Navarin

FRA

Stes-Maries (France) 42,12 78 48,47
1988WindsurfErik Beale GBRStes.Maries, FRA40.4874.9646.6First record above 40 knots
1986WindsurfPascal Maka FRASotavento, SP38.8671.9644.7
1980Crossbow II catamaranTim Colman GBRPortland, UK36.0066.6741.4
1977Crossbow II catamaranTim Colman GBRPortland, UK34.4063.7039.6
1977Crossbow II catamaranTim Colman GBRPortland, UK33.8062.5938.9
1975Crossbow II catamaranTim Colman GBRPortland, UK31.8058.8936.6
1975Crossbow proaTim Colman GBRPortland, UK31.1057.5935.8First record above 30 knots
1973Crossbow proaTim Colman GBRPortland, UK29.3054.2633.7
1972Crossbow (proa)Tim Colman GBRPortland, UK26.3048.7030.3First record above 30 mph


Class records

Last updated: 19 November 2012.

CategoryDateCraftSkipperLocationSpeed (knots)Speed (km/h)
D Class (Over 300 ft²) 4 September 2009 l'Hydroptère Alain Thébault FRA Hyères FRA 51.36 95.11
C Class (Up to 300 ft² (27.88 m²)) 2009 Macquarie Innovation Simon McKeon AUS Sandy Point, AUS 50.07 92.72
B Class (Up to 235 ft² (21.84 m²)) 2012 Vestas Sailrocket 2 Paul Larsen AUS Walvis Bay, NAM 65.45[1] 121.1
A Class (Up to 150 ft² (13.93 m²)) 1992 Longshot Russel Long USA Tarifa, SP 43.55 80.65
10 m² (Up to 10 m²) 2015 Windsurfer Antoine Albeau FRA Lüderitz, NAM 53.27 98.66
Kite Sailing 2013 Kitesurfer Alex Caizergues FRA Salin-de-Giraud, FRA 56.62 104.86

Nautical mile records

DateCraftSkipperLocationSpeed (knots)Speed (km/h)
18 November 2012 Vestas Sailrocket 2 Paul Larsen AUS Walvis Bay, NAM 55.32[2] 102.45
8 November 2009 l'Hydroptère Alain Thébault FRA Hyères FRA 50.17 92.91 .[4]
4 September 2009 l'Hydroptère Alain Thébault FRA Hyères FRA 48.72 90.23 500 metre record broken on the same run.
Oct 2008 l'Hydroptère Alain Thébault FRA Port Saint-Louis FRA 43.09 79.80
April 2007 l'Hydroptère Alain Thébault FRA Baie de Quiberon FRA 41.69 77.21
October 2006 Windsurfer Bjorn Dunkerbeck ND Walvis bay, Namibia 41.14 76.19
October 2005 Windsurfer Finian Maynard IRL Walvis bay, Namibia 39.97 74.02
November 2004 Windsurfer Bjorn Dunkerbeck ND Port Saint-Louis FRA 34.44 63.78
July 2003 Windsurfer Bjorn Dunkerbeck ND Aringa, Grand Canaria 33.96 62.89

Day's run

A Day's run is the distance traveled by a vessel in one day, normally measured from noon to noon. This was the traditional measure used in the days of packet and clipper ships and varied in the actual time dependent on whether the vessel was sailing east or west. The records certified by the WSSRC since 1994 are based on a 24-hour distance measure irrespective of longitude.

24 hour distance record

Distance Yacht Skipper Crew Date Competition Average speed
436 nmi (807 km; 502 mi)[5] United Kingdom Lightning James Nolan "Bully" Forbes 1 March 1854 18.16 knots (33.63 km/h; 20.90 mph)
465 nmi (861 km; 535 mi) United States Champion of the Seas Alexander Newlands 11 December 1854 19.375 knots (35.883 km/h; 22.296 mph)
512 nmi (948 km; 589 mi) Canada Formule Tag Michael Birch 1984 21.33 knots (39.50 km/h; 24.55 mph)
517 nmi (957 km; 595 mi) France Fleury Michon VIII Philippe Poupon 1987 21.54 knots (39.89 km/h; 24.79 mph)
522.73 nmi (968.10 km; 601.55 mi) France Jet Services V Serge Madec 1990 21.85 knots (40.47 km/h; 25.14 mph)
524.63 nmi (971.61 km; 603.73 mi) France Lyonnaise des eaux Olivier de Kersauson 1994 21.91 knots (40.58 km/h; 25.21 mph)
540 nmi (1,000 km; 620 mi) France Primagaz Laurent Bourgnon (singlehanded) 1 1994 22.50 knots (41.67 km/h; 25.89 mph)
547.3 nmi (1,013.6 km; 629.8 mi) France Explorer Bruno Peyron 1994 22.80 knots (42.23 km/h; 26.24 mph)
590.23 nmi (1,093.11 km; 679.22 mi) United States PlayStation Steve Fossett 1999 24.59 knots (45.54 km/h; 28.30 mph)
625.7 nmi (1,158.8 km; 720.0 mi) France Club Med Bruno Peyron & Grant Dalton 14 11 November 2000 26.07 knots (48.28 km/h; 30.00 mph)
629.5 nmi (1,165.8 km; 724.4 mi) France Innovation Explorer Loick Peyron 13 2001 The Race 26.23 knots (48.58 km/h; 30.18 mph)
655.2 nmi (1,213.4 km; 754.0 mi) France Club Med Grant Dalton 2001 27.30 knots (50.56 km/h; 31.42 mph)
687.17 nmi (1,272.64 km; 790.78 mi) United States PlayStation Steve Fossett 2001 28.63 knots (53.02 km/h; 32.95 mph)
694.78 nmi (1,286.73 km; 799.54 mi) United Kingdom Maiden II Adrienne Cahalan, Helena Darvelid & Brian Thompson 2002 28.95 knots (53.62 km/h; 33.32 mph)
706.2 nmi (1,307.9 km; 812.7 mi) France Orange II Bruno Peyron 2004 29.43 knots (54.50 km/h; 33.87 mph)
766.8 nmi (1,420.1 km; 882.4 mi) France Orange II Bruno Peyron 3 July 2006 31.95 knots (59.17 km/h; 36.77 mph)
794 nmi (1,470 km; 914 mi) France Groupama 3 Franck Cammas 10 20 July 2007 33.08 knots (61.26 km/h; 38.07 mph)
907.9 nmi (1,681.4 km; 1,044.8 mi)[6] France Banque Populaire V Pascal Bidégorry 11 August 2009 37.83 knots (70.06 km/h; 43.53 mph)

Note that the nineteenth century records are not strictly compatible as they measure a "Day's run" which was measured noon to noon regardless of longitude. The two entries above were both eastbound and therefore less than 24 hours.

Notable performances

During her Jules Verne Trophy record in 2011-2012, the Banque Populaire V skippered by Loïck Peyron covered 811.70 nautical miles in 24 hours on 3 December 2011 at 11:45 UT, posting 28 days over 600 miles, including 9 days over 700 miles and 1 day over 800 miles.[7]

During her Jules-Verne trophy record in 2009-2010, the trimaran Groupama 3 skippered by Franck Cammas covered 798 nautical miles in 24 hours on 13 February 2010 at 5 p.m. UT, showing 17 days over 600 miles, including 10 days over 700 miles.

During her Jules-Verne trophy record in 2016-2017, the trimaran Idec sport in the hands of Francis Joyon and his crew of Clément Surtel, Alex Pella, Bernard Stamm, Gwénolé Gahinet and Sébastien Audigane, covered 894 nautical miles in 24 hours, and 10 consecutive days at 809 miles / 24 h. Francis Joyon rounds Cape Horn, 16 days after riding off of South America, and after a course of nearly 12,000 miles above an average of 30 knots (730.16 miles / 24 h over 16 days). He then signs a performance increase of between 30 and 40% compared to the record to be broken by Loïck Peyron 5 years earlier. Leaving the southern seas with a lead of 4 j 06 h 35 min over Loïck Peyron's previous record, Francis Joyon, Clément Surtel, Alex Pella, Bernard Stamm, Gwénolé Gahinet and Sébastien Audigane regained the equivalent of 2,800 miles on the record during this episode.

During the aborted attempt of 2019, Yann Guichard sets a new record crossing the equator in 4 days 19 h 57 min and, thanks to favorable weather conditions, lines up 4,812.1 miles from the 11th to 16th day, or 802 miles / day for 6 consecutive days.

24 hour distance record for Armel Le Cléac'h on Banque Populaire VII: 682,85 miles in 24 hours singlehanded on 2014 January 26th (28,45 knots).[8]

During his record around the world Singlehanded in 2017, 24 hour distance record for François Gabart on Macif: 850,68 miles in 24h.[9]

During his attempt for the Jules Verne Trophy, December 5th of 2020, Thomas Coville on Sodebo Ultim 3 covered 889.9 miles in 24 hours (37.1 knots average).[10]

During the return trip after his victory in the 2021 Transat Jacques-Vabre, Charles Caudrelier broke two unofficial records on the Maxi Edmond de Rothschild: in false solo training, he reached 50.7 knots, and covered 880 miles in 24 hours at an average speed of 36.6 knots. This last record cannot be approved for a lack of adequate equipment on board.[11]

Instantaneous speed record

The idea of an instantaneous speed record is not officially sanctioned by the WSSRC and is, therefore, not officially measured or documented. The highest speed ever reported is from the crew of Vestas Sailrocket 2 : on 24 November 2012 they recorded a top speed of 68.33 knots in a 25–29-knot wind. [12]

Previously, the highest speed ever reported was from the crew of l'Hydroptère. During an attempt on 21 December 2008 at Port-Saint-Louis-du-Rhône, they recorded a top speed of approximately 61 knots (speed not verified or registered on any onboard instrumentation) during a 45 knot gust of wind. This heavy gust of wind overpowered the sailboat, causing it to capsize at high speed. The crew sustained only minor injuries.[13]

"Sovereign of the Seas", 1852, 258 ft, the fastest and longest ship yet built when she was launched in New York, designed and built by Donald Mackay, America's foremost clipper designer. On her maiden voyage, she sailed New York to San Francisco in 103 days. This ship achieved the fastest ever recorded speed of a sailing vessel (22 knots).

Notable people

Notes

  1. 1 2 3 "Vestas Sailrocket 2 Outright Sailing Speed Record". WSSRC. 4 December 2012.
  2. 1 2 "Vestas Sailrocket. Outright and NM". WSSRC. 2 December 2012. Retrieved 14 December 2021.
  3. "Vestas Sailrocket 2 Outright Sailing Speed Record". WSSR Council. 27 November 2012.
  4. "50 noeuds sur le mille !" sur le site Hydroptere.com Archived 6 August 2009 at the Wayback Machine
  5. Lubbock, Basil (1921), The Colonial Clippers, Glasgow, James Brown, p. 62
  6. "WSSRC Records - 24 Hour Distance".
  7. Trophy Jules-Verne, Partials and statistics
  8. "WSSR newsletter No 239. Banque Populaire 7. Singlehanded 24 hours. 28/02/14". www.sailspeedrecords.com. Retrieved 9 January 2018.
  9. "WSSR Newsletter No 296. MACIF. Singlehanded 24 hour record 07/01/18". www.sailspeedrecords.com.
  10. "La cartographie du Trophée Jules Verne".
  11. "2021: Clap de fin pour le Gitana Team". 25 November 2021..
  12. Paul Larsen (28 November 2012). "BLOWN AWAY... THE 65 KNOT+ RUN (WITH VIDEO)". Vestas Sailrocket.
  13. 61 knots for l'Hydroptère

See also

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