Fair Weather Foils Spindrift Atlantic Record Bid

The wait is over says Spindrift racing. On stand-by for suitable weather since the beginning of June 2014, Dona Bertarelli, Yann Guichard and the rest of the team has abandoned their attempt to break the Crewed North Atlantic Record and prepares to sail home to France.

Since their arrival in Newport, an unusually powerful anticyclone located at high latitudes has starved them of any opportunity to take on the record. There is no time to relax, however, and Spindrift racing must now focus on the Route du Rhum-Destination Guadeloupe, which will depart from Saint-Malo on November 2nd.

Few records have been attempted more often than the North Atlantic crossing. To sail from New York to Lizard Point in less than 3 days and 15 hours requires both an experienced crew and an exceptional machine such as Spindrift 2, combined with ideal weather conditions.

"For a multihull to achieve such a feat on this route, you need a depression that crosses the ocean at the same speed as the record so that you can ride ahead of it on a flat sea,” explains Richard Silvani, a Météo France meteorologist who is Spindrift racing’s onshore route-planner.

“This summer’s weather has made any record attempt impossible,” he says. “The anticyclone located at 50 degrees north, directly above our intended route, has prevented depressions from crossing the ocean between America and Europe. Even today’s 10-day forecasts predict no change in the situation.”

After two and a half months of weather-watching, it is time for Spindrift racing to bring the 40-metre maxi-trimaran back to its home port of La Trinité-sur-Mer. Yann Guichard has expressed his frustration, which is shared by Dona Bertarelli and the crew, at missing out on this opportunity to sprint across the North Atlantic.

Spindrift 2 will leave Newport on August 19th. Yann Guichard will use the return trip as preparation for the upcoming Route du Rhum race.