A magnificent new sailing record

The heartiest of congratulations to the captain and crew of the French sailing vessel Banque Populaire V, which yesterday smashed the around-the-world record for a yacht and won the Jules Verne Trophy.

Banque Populaire V at the Château de Brest in 2009 (image courtesy of Wikipedia)

Sail-World.com gives us the numbers.

In the 2011 Jules Verne Trophy, the 14 sailors on-board Maxi trimaran Banque Populaire V just burst into the history of offshore racing by becoming the fastest men around the globe with crew, after 45 days 13 hours 42 minutes and 53 seconds of sailing. Loïck Peyron and his crew improved the reference time of the Jules Verne Trophy held by Groupama 3 since March 2010 by two days eighteen hours one minute and fifty-nine seconds.

Departed on November 22nd at 09:31:42 Paris time (08:31:42 GMT), after having crossed the imaginary line between Ushant (Finistère-France) and Lizard Point (southern tip of England), the Maxi Banque Populaire V crossed the finish line of the Jules Verne Trophy at 23:14:35 Paris time (22:14:35 GMT) this Friday. She undertook this sailing around the world in 45 days 13 hours 42 minutes 53 seconds at an average speed of 26.51 knots, covering a total distance of 29,002 miles.

There's more at the link.

Here's a video clip of the ship and crew as they crossed the finish line (at night), and then returned to a tumultuous welcome as they docked.

There are many powered ships that couldn't match that speed, never mind keep it up as an average over so long a distance. That's a heck of an achievement by anyone's standards - and Banque Populaire V is an outstanding example of how technology has lifted an ancient art and science into the modern world. Even a few decades ago, such speed and performance would be undreamed-of for any sailing craft.

Particular kudos to the crew, who had very little indeed in the way of creature comforts during the journey. The ship was built for performance, pure and simple, with no weight to spare for luxurious accommodation or lavish food supplies. This was a marathon race whether on duty or off, awake or asleep. I'm sure they were excited and overjoyed to have smashed the record so comprehensively, but I bet they were also happy to see the journey come to an end!

Peter