Sailing in comfort..

Well, as much fun as it sounds like that would be a horrible trip. And when you got there you would be miserable.

I think the first ones barely survived, at least they went straight from the boat to the hospital. Some people want to test their limits, and we all have different limits.. It is too long for me as well, by far.

But look at that boat! It looks much more suitable than a TheMightyHobie18, which I think was the boat first used. Just look at the volume in those hulls and how it is set up. Great boat.

At this angle I can't see the mini-fridge or the TV. <img src=

alt=

/>

On an expedition like that, you can probably choose between a mini-fridge and TV, or food <img src=

alt=

/>

True.
But if you were to stay local,

you could have both, and a projector TV picking up satellite and viewed on the mainsail.

I bet you fit a keg in the hulls too!

sleep on the wing strapped in or something?

I believe the previous boat used for the record had a small pup tent at the mast base. There is one video on their website that shows a portion of it. It is blue and on the starboard side of the tramp. It looked only large enough to either have only your upper half of your body into it, or possibly be able to curl up into a ball inside of it.
Ocean Cat website

Here's the video on the present boat's website that shows a cover over one of the bench seats.

Video
Click the play arrow and give the guy a minute to dig the fiberglass out of his eyeball socket. <img src=

alt=

/>

GARY

Ok, these guys aren't sailing, but they are crossing the open ocean in a very small boat - a kayak to be preicise. They are crossing

The Ditch

from Australia to New Zealand as we write, and giving live updates and reports. Some of the technology may be useful for a cat in open water. Anyway, thought you might find it interesting.

http://www.crossingtheditch.com.au/index.html

Good luck to them. The last person who tried this sadly perished within sight of the NZ coast.

http://www.andrewmcauley.com/

The team is still on track to break the record, hope they'll succeed. www.ocean-express.org

I think this is one of the things that is wrong with us catsailors. Two guys are on the way to setting a new trans-atlantic record on a beachcat, and we can't seem to be bothered to get excited. Instead of whining about how much easier is is to start skateboarding and BMX, celebrate achievements and build heroes. For god's sake, Pierre-Yves Moreau and Benoit Lequin have spent a year and a half building their own boat in their free evenings and now are out on the Atlantic. What do they have to do to get our attention?

My problem is the language. I dont understand french and the english version of their website is not very good.

They buildt the boat themself? Whow! If they had a good english version of the site I think interest would be very high.
They did get some coverage in norwegian sailing media, if that is any comfort.

http://www.trackwave.fr/ocean-express/ was cool.

I think the project is extremely interesting, and them building their own boat adds an extra dimension, but when you dont understand much of their media channel, it is hard to follow and get excited.

on their video

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x3n2gn_archi-factory-octo-finances-le-reco_extreme

i like their sprung loaded daggers, 1'25

, and their flashing sail battens for night navigation, 4'10

Bonne nuit de navigation à bord du cata skippé par Benoit et Pierre-Yves… Les deux hommes sont désormais à 794,4 milles de l’arrivée et sont attendus dans environ 3 jours en Guadeloupe. Les Alizés du Nord-Est sont à nouveau bien installés et le voilier spécialement construit par les Lorientais peut s’en donner à cœur joie dans les vagues Atlantique. Pym et Ben sont dans les temps du record ! Il faudra tout de même rester très vigilant ces derniers jours notamment dans l’approche souvent capricieuse de la Guadeloupe.

Zoom : comment font les deux marins pour voir leurs voiles la nuit ?

« Nous avons rencontré un cargo la nuit dernière » relatait Benoit à la dernière vacation « Notre système d’illumination des voiles « Sail Light » nous a permis d’être repéré ! » Plébiscité par de nombreux coureurs, ce système permet de visualiser le profil de voiles de nuit et optimiser ainsi les performances du bateau. Il contribue également à renforcer la sécurité de la navigation de nuit dans la mesure où le bateau est mieux vu par les autres navires. Enfin, cette technologie peut être utilisée pour éclairer un logo ou une marque sur une voile ou un lazy bag. Rappelons que 50% des arrivées de courses océaniques ont lieu la nuit ! Les chiffres du jour :

date depart=Wednesday 28th of November 2007 10:50:00 AM date inst=Thursday 06th of December 2007 08:00:00 AM info inst=200712060800 ;16 32.96 N ;47 38.98 W ;9.00 ;292;2537.4 ;794.4 ; distance totale=2537.4 milles distance restante=794.4 milles

calculs

distance parcourue=1743 milles vitesse moyenne=9.2140969162996 milles/heure date total=Sunday 09th of December 2007 10:12:56 PM duree totale=991376.59208262 secondes duree totale=11j 11h 22’ 56’’ duree restante=310376.59208262 secondes duree restante=3j 14h 12’ 56’’

Ok here's my stab at translating the last update, please bear in mind that neither English nor French is my native language:

A good night of sailing on board of the cat skippered by Benoit and Pierre-Yves the two men are now at 794.4 miles from the finish and teir ETA is about three days from now. The NorthEast tradewinds have established themselves again nicely, and the catamaran that was custom-built by the two men from Lorient can zoom along happily in the Atlantic waves.Pym and Ben are within the timeframe for the record! Nevertheless they have to stay vigilant for the last days, especially during the often tricky approach of Guadeloupe.

Zoom: How do the two sailors see their sails at night?

we have encountred a cargoship last night

Benoit told in the last update

Our 'Sail Light' sail illumination system made it possible for us to be noticed!

This system chosen by numerous racers, allows one to see the sails' profile at night and therefore optimize the boats' performance. It also contributes to the safety sailing at night by making the boat more visible to other vessels. This technology can also be used to illuminate a logo or trademark on a sail or lazybag. Bear in mind that 50% of ocean race finshes are at night!

the numbers of the day:
date depart=Wednesday 28th of November 2007 10:50:00 AM date inst=Thursday 06th of December 2007 08:00:00 AM info inst=200712060800 ;16 32.96 N ;47 38.98 W ;9.00 ;292;2537.4 ;794.4 ; total distance=2537.4 milles remaining distance=794.4 miles

Calculations

distance covered=1743 miles average speed=9.2140969162996 miles/hr ETA=Sunday 09th of December 2007 10:12:56 PM total time=991376.59208262 seconds totale time=11j 11h 22’ 56’’ remaining time=310376.59208262 seconds remaining time=3j 14h 12’ 56’’

There you go, you found a video..

Spi looks very similar to a Tornado spi, but the boat is just brutal (in a positive meaning).

thanks for the translation Genealex

Thanks Genealex! Sounds like they are having a nice trip, but I guess there must be some drama and two very tired sailors?

Now, Sail Light, what is that, how does it work and who sells it? Price?

BTW: What IS your native language Genealex?

Rolf, the system is used to illuminate the sails at night. It is manufactured by Sierra Echo http://www.sierraecho.fr/
http://www.sail-light.com/
The system comprises batten style light bars. It also can illuminate logos created with Light reactive inks.
Pretty cool. You can also do that with fiber optics, I guess it actually uses fiber optics. Don't know for sure.

Talking about customizing Robi's new Blade ? Pretty cool.

I'm glad you appreciate it, I'll try to translate some more tonight. My native language is Dutch. By the way, I've read about the boat you're building, looks cool!

Google Translation of their site

7/12/07 16h11 : Problème de hauban
vendredi 7 décembre 2007

Pierre-Yves et Benoit ont connu un souci de hauban (câble qui retient le mât) ces dernières heures. Ils ont donc arrêté le bateau afin de réparer. A priori la réparation tient. Les deux marins évoluent dans 20 à 25 nœuds de vent.

Nous cassons la croute et nous repartons

déclarait Benoit il y a 5 minutes au téléphone.

7/12/07 16h11 : Shroud trouble

Pierre-Yves et Benoit had trouble with a shroud (a cable that supports the mast) these last few hours. So they have stopped the boat to repair it. For now the fix will hold. The windspeed is 20 to 25 knots.

We'll take a bite and we'll be off again

Benoit said 5 minutes ago over the phone

Jake you're right. While the google translation may not be perfect (neither is mine, but i like to think it's better) it's enough to follow the gist of the story if you're really interested.

8/12/07 11h52 : Plus de peur que de mal !
samedi 8 décembre 2007

Pierre-Yves Moreau et Benoit Lequin ont chaviré cette nuit. Les deux navigateurs Lorientais, qui tentent de battre le

record de la traversée de l’atlantique sur un petit catamaran, ont redressé leur voilier « Archi-Factory / Octo Finances

» et font à nouveau route vers le but final à savoir Pointe à Pitre.
Benoit Lequin : « Nous nous sommes retournés cette nuit. J’étais à la barre et Pierre-Yves faisait la sieste sous la

petite tente que nous avons installé sur notre banc. Le vent est monté d’un coup et a pris de la droite. Je n’ai pas

contrôlé cette hausse soudaine de pression et le bateau a empanné puis nous nous sommes mis sur le toit ! Il nous a

fallu 1 heure pour redresser le voilier. Nous étions attachés et avec nos gilets de sauvetage. Nous avons eu un petit

moment de panique chacun de notre côté car nous étions loin l’un de l’autre. Nous avons perdu notre panneau solaire et

une caméra mais aucun matériel de sécurité. »

Afin de redresser le bateau, un tangon de « ressalage » a été astucieusement prévu, ainsi qu’une ancre flottante

permettant au catamaran de rester au vent si le voilier était couché.

Le tandem est à 323 milles de l’arrivée. Il est attendu demain soir en Guadeloupe avec, si tout va bien, une avance d’

environ 40 heures sur le record des Italiens.

8/12/07 11h52 : More fear than hurt!

Pierre-Yves Moreau and Benoit Lequin have capsized last night. The two sailors from Lorient, who are trying to beat the

record for an atlantic crossing on a small catamaran, ave righted their sailboat « Archi-Factory / Octo Finances » and

are again on their way to their destination, Pointe à Pitre.
Benoit Lequin:

We tipped over last night. I was at the helm and Pierre-Yves took a nap in the little tent we've

installed on our bench. The wind grew suddenly and took from the right. I couldn't handle this sudden rise in pressure

and the boat jibed and we were put upside down! It has taken us an hour to right the the sailboat. We were attached and we

were wearing our lifejackets. We both panicked for a moment because we were far apart. We've lost our solar panel and a

camara but none of our safety equipment

The boat is cleverly equipped with a righting pole and a sea anchor to allow the catamaran to remain head to wind in

case of a capsize.

The duo is 323 miles from the finish. they are expected to arrive tomorrow evening in Guadeloupe, if all goes well, 40

hours ahead of the record set by the Italians

08/12/2007 at 16 h 10 GMT
Latitude 17 24.28 N
Longitude 57 10.07 W
speed 5.10 kts
heading 98 °
Distance covered 2280.6 milles
Distance remaining 256.8 milles
Time estimated 11j 8h 57' 30''

ETA : sun 9 december, 19h 47m 30s GMT

It looks like they're going to make it, celebration at 2000 GMT?

There's a couple of reason that come to mind when reflecting on why this doesn't get my attention.

Out of sight, out of mind. It's not something I am able to relate to. It's two guys I've never heard of, on a boat I've never heard of, sailing waters I've never seen, from a country I've never been to.
I'm not knocking any of the above things, just pointing to the fact I have no connection. I simply don't relate to what they're trying to do. No more or less than I relate to teams climbing Mt.Everrest. No less daring or dangerous perhaps, but equally no connection.

Sadly, I did get excited and connected when I read that they had capsized.
Now that I could relate to.
And I did connect to the fact that they did not have a RC boat near by.
Only now am I interested in following the story.
I'm not sure what you can make of any of this, but you asked.

Like I aid in another thread: If I were in a monastery and I would say:

Did you hear what the Pope did yesterday?

I'd at least expect a modicum of interest. Monks live a life very different from the Pope's but they are part of the same community. If someone of your community did something out of the ordinary why wouldn't you want to know about it?
They're not climbing a bloody mountain, they are sailing a beachcat as fast as they can across the Atlantic. Explain why it is hard to relate.

They've still got a long day ahead of them, ETA has been pushed back. Windspeed 15kts

09/12/2007 at 08 h 00 GMT
Latitude 16 54.48 N
Longitude 59 21.18 W
speed 6.10 nds
heading 216 °
Distance covered 2408.9 milles
Distance remaining 128.5 milles
Time estimated : 11j 11h 5’ 53’’

ETA : sun 9 december, 21h 55m 53s GMT

pity they didn't set their page up like these guys

http://www.crossingtheditch.com.au/

imagine the guy sleeping in the tent had a bad few moments when the boat went over

Don't see much difference in setup of the page, but I imagine it's a bit harder to understand for the linguisticaly challenged. For the

english only

speakers

Cartographie temps réel

means realtime mapping, by clicking on it you get a map om which their position is updated hourly.

Less than 50 miles from the finish the World Sailing Speed Record Council is on the water with the support team to validate the record. Next update at 2200 hrs GMT when the team gets ashore.