Gitana update

Gitana 13 maxi-cat draws breath in Hong Kong while victorious Gitana 80 is to compete in the Trophee SNSM

The Gitana Team couldn’t have imagined a better start to the season... The Gitana 13 maxi-cat has had 100% success in its record campaign and there has been similar success for Gitana Eighty in her programme of races, with skipper Loïck Peyron scoring his historic triple in The Artemis Transat - great reward for the work of the whole team.

Gitana 13

Having sailed almost the equivalent of a round the world lap, it’s time for a summer break for the LCF Rothschild Group maxi-catamaran. In six month's sailing, the crew of Gitana 13 has notched up as many records. Setting out from New York on 16 January, they successfully established new records times for all the passages they targeted: the Route de l’Or from New York to San Francisco via the Horn, the North Pacific from San Fran to Japan, and then the Asian tour from Yokohama to Hong Kong, via Dalian, Qingdao and Taipei.

“Since we set out from the foot of the Statue of Liberty last January, everything has linked together very well, as much on a sporting level as a technical one," commented skipper Lionel Lemonchois. "The reference time for the Route de l’Or was totally possible since it was held by a monohull, but this first course proved highly demanding and complicated, with nearly 43 days at sea and the east to west rounding of Cape Horn. Following that there was the North Pacific, where we beat the time set by Geronimo (Olivier de Kersauson’s maxi-trimaran) by nearly four days. Finally, we had our various Asian records which included a wealth of new experiences both on the water and during our different stopovers."

On Saturday 14 June, the 33m maxi-catamaran was lifted out of the water, not far from Hong Kong, for a few weeks of summer refit. Besides the rig, which is to be replaced, the crew of Gitana 13 will make the most of this downtime to refair and paint the appendages, after their having been bashed about after numerous encounters with drifting fishing nets in the China Sea. It will also be an opportunity to perform a complete check-up of the boat; necessary after sailing over 21,000 miles in, at times, harsh conditions.

The next challenge for Lionel Lemonchois and his crew will be the substantially longer Route du The, a course of nearly 15,000 miles between Hong Kong and London. Gitana 13 will attack this new record, held since 1990 by Philippe Monnet (set singlehanded in the old Fleury Michon VI 60ft trimaran) in 67 days 10 hours and 26 minutes. The departure is scheduled over the course of the summer.
    
Gitana 13’s records
The Route de l’Or* (New York – San Francisco, via Cape Horn):
43 days 3 minutes and 18 seconds
The North Pacific Crossing* (San Francisco – Yokohama):
11 days 12 minutes and 55 seconds
Taipei – Hong Kong*:
1 day 45 minutes and 59 seconds

*records approved by the WSSRC

The new reference times
Yokohama-Dalian: 3 days 20 hours 19 minutes 11 seconds
Dalian-Qingdao: 23 hours 50 minutes 20 seconds
Qingdao-Taipei: 3 days 52 minutes 15 seconds


Gitana Eighty for the lifeboatmen and women

This Sunday at 1800, Gitana 80, the IMOCA Open 60 sailing in the colours of the LCF Rothschild Group, will take the start of the Record SNSM. The event honours those who save lives at sea and it is changing its format for the fourth edition, offering a course which is twice the distance for those competing in the IMOCA class. Indeed, boats measuring in excess of 50 feet will set out from Saint Nazaire, on France’s Atlantic coast on Sunday, to complete a round trip of over 568 miles, rounding a mark off Saint Malo. This tour of Brittany, which according to the latest forecasts will involve predominantly upwind sailing, will be in moderate to light breeze, resulting in a race which promises to be highly tactical due to Brittany's complex coastline.

Back in La Trinité-sur-Mer last week after returning from Boston single-handed, Loïck Peyron and the Gitana Team have got back to work to remove the boat’s keel and replace it with a new foil. “The Gitana Team has performed a superb job to get us ready in time to be in Saint Nazaire," commented Loick Peyron. "It wasn’t a small deal as the minute I got back from Boston, in the middle of last week, it was necessary to unstep Gitana Eighty’s mast, lift her out of the water, remove her keel and equip her with a new keel and then relaunch her… operations which proved both quick and efficient! I am happy to be able to participate in this crewed race, as it’s always interesting to compare yourself to others, and assess Gitana Eighty’s speed potential. Added to that the event is for a good cause, in honour of the lifeboatmen and women. These are courageous volunteers who are always there when you need them"

The crew of Gitana Eighty on the Record SNSM: Loïck Peyron (Skipper), Cyril Dardashti, Antoine Mermod, Didier Le Vourch’, Sébastien Thétiot