Jules Verne trophy record broken some hours ago
What you see in the photo above, from Saturday 20th March 2010 at 21 hours 40 minutes 45 seconds UTC, is the fastest boat of any kind, be it ship, powerboat, sailing boat, whatever, around the world, no qualification to the statement.
She crossed the line a few hours back and adds the Jules Verne Trophy for around the world to the Rugby Grand Slam, just as we come into the spring equinox. Significant moment.
Naturally, the French are delighted.
For afficianados
- Groupama 3 Crosses Finish Line: Saturday 20th March 2010 at 21 hours 40 minutes 45 seconds UTC
- Groupama 3 Fastest Boat Around the World: 48 days 7 hours 44 minutes 52 seconds
- Groupama 3 Improvement in relation to the previous Orange 2 sailing record: 2 days 8 hours 35 minutes 12 seconds
- Groupama 3 Sailed: 28,523 miles
- Groupama 3 Average Speed: 24.6 knots
Groupama 3 Boat Specs
Launched: June 2006
Design: VPLP
Shipyard: Multiplast
Length: 31.5 m / 103 ft
Width: 22.5 m / 74 ft
Draft: 5.7 m / 18.7ft
Height: 41 m / 134.5 ft
Mainsail: 356 m²
Gennaker: 472 m²
Solent: 201 m²
Bruno Peyron who took the original Jules Verne Trophy in 1994 by rounding the world in less than 80 days had also retaken the record in 2005 but now they are going around the world in roughly half the time.
What personally delights me is that it is a trimaran which now holds both the open and single-handed records, showing that there’s not a lot to choose from between a modern tri and a catamaran.
Filed under: Leisure, travel & sport, Technology & ideas
I don’t know much about sailing but that is absolutely incredible.
That figure of 24.6 knots looks so slow but any sailor can tell you that on water, that is bloody fast and not only that but it was an average.
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