Sailing in comfort..

well it looks like they did it!

congratulations!

think i'd rather have 1 of those proven transatlantic beach cats than the multi23;o)

Still waiting for confirmation on their site. Bloody buggers are probably already quaffing champagne without bothering to tell us they're in <img src=

alt=

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Bloody hell, I'm off to do my Dad duty an care for an ill child. Can't hang about for confirmation. Good night

They've done it! Number 1 son is feeling better again and PYM and Benoit are in Pointe À Pitre and I'm at work again.
Dakar-Pointe À Pitre in 11d 11h 25' 42'' mor than two day faster than the previous record. Well I'm off to work, happy sailing for those of you who are going out today, you lucky buggers!

Had a little time to spare, so a quick translation.

10/12/07 : Record battu !
lundi 10 décembre 2007

Pierre-Yves Moreau et Benoit Lequin ont battu le record du Monde de la traversée de l’atlantique sur un catamaran non habitable de

20 pieds. Ils ont mis 11 jours 11 heures 25 minutes et 42 secondes et comptent 50 heures 32 minutes et 45 secondes d’avance sur le

dernier record détenu par les Italiens Andréa Gancia et Mattéo Miceli.
Pierre-Yves et Benoit sont allés au bout de leurs ressources physiques et morales pour accomplir leur objectif. Epuisés mais

heureux, ils ont hier soir mis pied à terre à Pointe à Pitre.

Pierre-Yves Moreau : « La dureté de ce record nous a vraiment surpris. Nous avons été heureux de naviguer sur ce voilier mais la

performance a été très dure à accomplir. Sur ce genre de petit bateau, nous sommes livrés à nous même. Il faut faire

particulièrement attention au niveau de la sécurité. On a tout de même eu des coups de vent à plus de 40 nœuds. Et puis la gestion

des vagues a été très importante, beaucoup plus qu’on le croyait. Elles cassent la vitesse du bateau et les hommes qui sont à

bord. Elles laissent très peu de répit. Tu ne peux jamais dormir ! Malgré la complexité de cette tentative, nous sommes ravis de

battre ce record. C’est une aventure complète. Tout à commencer il y a deux ans, il a fallu réalisé le catamaran de nos propres

mains puis traverser l’atlantique dans des conditions extrêmes ! »

Benoit Lequin : « C’est magique. Il y avait de nombreux bateaux pour nous accueillir. Quel bonheur de battre ce record ! Nous

sommes vachement content de notre voilier. Nous avons mis plus de 1 an à le construire et il a bien tenu la route. C’est une

superbe expérience qui nous donne des idées d’amélioration pour l’avenir. J’espère que notre record sera battu car nous sommes

prêts à repartir ! Les derniers jours ont été difficiles. Nous avons d’ailleurs à nouveau chaviré la nuit dernière, cette fois,

Pierre-Yves était à la barre ».

Au fil du record

Mercredi 28 novembre, Pierre-Yves Moreau et Benoit Lequin sont partis de Dakar sur les chapeaux de roue. Lors des deux premiers

jours de navigation, le catamaran du tandem Lorientais affichait des vitesses de pointe à plus de 15 nœuds et une moyenne au

dessus des 10 nœuds. Bien calés tribord amure dans les alizés du Nord-Est, les skippers du multicoque « Archi-Factory / Octo

Finances » ne pouvaient pas espérer un meilleur départ dans leur quête du record de la traversée de l’atlantique sur un catamaran

non habitables de 20 pieds. La vie à bord s’est alors peu à peu installée : prise de quart de 1 à 2 heures à la barre, pendant que

l’autre se reposait sur une petite tente montée sur le banc au vent, préparation de lyophilisés froids, la bonne humeur transpirée

lors des premières vacations. Les choses se sont ensuite, compliquées suite au contournement de l’archipel du Cap Vert. Eole et la

mer, qui étaient si dociles les premiers jours, ont décidé de poser des problèmes au duo. Le vent a, en effet, tourné pour pousser

le catamaran, au vent arrière, une allure plus instable, il a baissé et surtout la houle était beaucoup moins propice à de longs

surfs sauvages. Les méninges du routeur slovéne, Jure Jelman, ont alors tourné à plein régime afin de proposer une nouvelle

stratégie pour nos valeureux Bretons. Empannages sur empannages, la vitesse moyenne tombait à moins de 10 nœuds. Commencent les

inquiétudes concernant la chasse au record de 13 jours détenus par les Italiens, la fatigue à bord du bateau « à deux pattes » se

fait sentir. Heureusement, les Alizés sont revenus à la normale et les milles ont pu être enchaînés les derniers jours. Petit

souci de déssanilisateur réglé avec l’aide de Sébastien Roubinet, l’aventurier de « Babouche », réparation d’un hauban trois jours

avant l’arrivée et patatras !

Deux chavirages avant l’arrivée

Le samedi 8 décembre, Pierre-Yves et Benoit annoncent qu’ils ont chaviré. Un grain prenait de cours Benoit à la barre. « Archi-

Factory / Octo Finances » chavirait. Deux hommes à la mer à 300 milles de Pointe à Pitre, une heure pour ressaler grâce à un

astucieux système prévu avant de partir et les deux marins pouvaient repartir. Rebelote 24 heures avant l’arrivée avec cette fois

-ci Pierre-Yves aux manettes… Enfin, la délivrance hier soir à 21 heures 48 minutes et 32 secondes…Ils ont battu le record de la

traversée de l’atlantique sur un petit catamaran. Chapeau !

Ce record est en cours de validation au WSSRC.

Pierre-Yves et Benoit tiennent à remercier l’ensemble de leurs partenaires et supporters qui soutiennent le projet depuis le début

à savoir deux ans…

Pour Pierre-Yves et Benoit, Tanguy Blondel

10/12/07 : Record Broken!
monday 10 december 2007

Pierre-Yves Moreau and Benoit Lequin have broken the transatlantic record for 20 ft open catamarans. They have taken 11 days 11

hours an 42 seconds and have beaten the record detained by the Italians Andrea Gancia and Matteo Miceli.
Pierre-Yves and Benoit have spent all their physical and emotional resources to achieve thier goal. Exhausted but happy, they've

set foot on land in Point à Pitre.

Pierre-Yves Moreau :

It has really surprised us how hard it was to break this record. We were happy to sail this boat but is has

been hard to keep up the speed. On this kind of small craft we were thrown back on ourselves. It's very important to keep safety

in the front of your mind. We've had 40 knot gusts. And taking account of the wave has been much more important than we've

thought. They break the speed and the men on board. They didn't lkeave us much time for rest. You can never sleep! In spite of the

difficulty of this attempt, we are overjoyed to have beaten the record. The adventure has ended. It all started two years ago, we

had to build this catamaran with our own hands, and consequently cross the Atlantic in extreme conditions.

Benoit Lequin :

It's terrific. There were a lot of boats to welcome us. So happy to beat this record! We're very pleased with our

sailboat. It's has taken us more than one year to build it and it has handled well. This has been a tremendous experience that has

given us a lot of ideas for improvement for the future. I hope someone will beat our record, because we're ready to go again! The

last days have been difficult. By the way we've capsized again last night, that time Pierr-Yves was at the helm.

On the trail of the record

Pierre-Yves and Benoit Lequin have left Dakar on Wednesday 28 november like two arrows from a bow. During the first days of the

crossing the catamaran of the dou from Lorient attained top speeds of over 15 knots and average speeds of 10 knots. well

established on starboard tack in the North-East tradewinds, the skippers of Archi-Factory / Octo Finances couldn't have wished for

a better start for their record attempt. The rythm of life on board established itself, 1 to 2 hour watches at the helm, while the

other rested in a little tent mounted on the bench to windward, preparation of cold dehydrated food, the good spirit was apparent

during the first updates. After ruonding the Cape Verde Archipelago complications arose. Aeolus and the sea who were so friendly

the first days decided to make truoble for the duo.The wind, turned so the catameran found itself on a run which is less stable

course, calmed and above all the swell was not suited for long wild surfing. The brain of their slovenian router, Jure Jelman, was

running at full speed to devise a new strategy for our gallant Bretons. Tack after tack, the average speed dropped below 10 knots.

That's when the worries about the assault on the record of 13 days held by the Italians and the fatigue on board of the twin-hull

began to make themselves felt. Luckily the tradewinds went back to normal and the miles coulkd be counted off during the last

days. A smal worry about the desalinizer which was fixed with the help of Sébastien Roubinet, the adventurer of

Babouche

, a

repair of a shoud three days before the finish.

And crash! Two capsizes before the finish.

On saturday 8 december, Pierr-Yves and Benoit anounce that they have capsized. A squall formed while Benoit was at the helm,

Archi Factory / octo Finances

capsized. two men overboard at 300 miles from Point à Pitre, one hour to right their boat thanks

to a clever righting system and sailors were off again. They did the same thing again 24 hours before the finish this time with

Pierre-Yves at the helm...Anyway, yesterday at 21hrs 48mins 32secs... they have broken the record for the atlantic crossing on a

small catamaran. Hats off!

The record is bieng validated by the WSSRC.

Pierr-Yves and Benoit like to thank their partners and supporters that have supported the project from the start, two years ago...

For Pierre-Yves and Benoit, Tanguy Blondel

thanks for all the trans work Genealex

sounds like they were very professional about it from the very start

must have been hard on those 1st 2 guys with no gps or sat. phone

have been thinking about a righting pole or shroud adjusters to right my cat as i'm not heavy enough to do it solo

any more detail on their

ingenious righting system

?

for a 20' cat with those huge benches i wonder if shrouds would be the better way to right than a pole

Thanks again for the translation!

Amazing feat! They say they are exhausted and that sleep was very difficult. I can imagine.. 1-2 hour watches must have been exhausting. Hope they get their record ratified by the speed sailing world record council.
Hope they do some more out their record and trial. Both a design/building article, teamwork/HR article on their crossing and technical evaluation would be very interesting reading.

Seeing that they went over, and that they had trouble with sleeping. I wonder if a trimaran configuration would be faster over. A sheltered spot to sleep in and a wider platform with more power? The poles selected a 23foot trimaran configuration for their design attempt, but it has been awfully quiet about their project lately. Come to think about it, I believe they added two feet of length to their boat, total 25 feet, which makes it a completely different concept.

Thanks for the translation.
Todd

what exactly is the category of boat class for this record?

think i read somewhere beachcat, 20foot or under

This is the category :
WSSRC Ratified Passage Records

This is the page where you can find it: http://www.sailspeedrecords.com/ratified.html

Look near the bottom of the page for: Dakar - Guadeloupe

There are other efforts being prepared mostly italin it seems trying to get to now more about them Any Italian speakers that can tell us more?

BTW Jake, are you thinking of mounting an attempt yourself? If so, keep us posted I'm sure everone here would like to know!

And of course be rooting for you all the way

Oh, so, when he gets back, Francis Joyon could decide to go out for lunch and crush their record? I thought there was a

beach cat

category or something.

Now here's a challenge! (20 foot Cat)

Transpacific Yokohama to San Francisco.
20ft Sport Cat.
Singlehanded 4482 NM
Aug-06 One World
C 20 6.1
Alessandro Di Benedetto ITA/FRA
62d 17h 50m 55s 2.97

As I understood it, when

Ocean Cat

crossed, I believe the record set was for

20 foot OPEN catamaran.

Open meant, no enclosed cabin.

GARY