Banque Populaire sets off on TransMed record

Pascal Bidegorry's maxi-trimaran must reach Tunisia by tonight

After a winter waiting to set sail on a Jules Verne Trophy attempt that never happened, so Pascal Bidegorry's Banque Populaire V maxi-trimaran this morning set off on an attempt on the TransMed record from Marseilles to Carthage, Tunisia, a course of 458 miles.

The 40m trimaran, which last year demolished the west to east transatlantic record, set sail in 26-30 knots, crossing the line off Marseilles at 03:56 GMT.

The objective is to break the record set on 16 May last year by Franck Cammas and his crew on Groupama 3 of 17 hours 8 minutes and 23 seconds at an average speed of 26.4 knots. To do this Banque Populaire V must reach Carthage before 22:05:19 GMT tonight.

Banque Populaire V has been in nearby La Ciotat waiting for a suitable weather window and today's forecast is what Bidegorry and shore based routed Marcel van Triest have been waiting for. 

Crew: Pascal Bidégorry, Thierry Chabagny, Florent Chastel, Kévin Escoffier, Emmanuel Le Borgne, Ewen Le Clech, Jean-Baptiste Le Vaillant, Ronan Lucas, Pierre-Yves Moreau, Yvan Ravussin, Xavier Revil, Erwan Tabarly.