NEW FASTNET COURSE RECORD FOR FOSSETT
35 hrs 17 mins 14 secs
Mission
Control, UK Monday 18 March 2002 -
10.00 GMT
Steve Fossett and PlayStation sailed into
the record books once again yesterday, with a new Fastnet race course record.
Steve and his 11 person crew set a new time of 35 hours 17 mins 14 secs (subject
to WSSRC ratification) for the 605 nm course at an average speed on 17.1 knots.
They took over 5 hours off the previous record set by Loick Peyron on Fujicolour
II in the 1999 Fastnet race.
The 125' maxi cat left Cowes at 16:23:53 on Friday (15 March), rounded the Fastnet Rock 18 hours later and finished at Plymouth Sound at 03:41:07 on Sunday morning (17 March).
Watch Captain, Dave Scully, speaking today from Plymouth described the conditions for the record. "We left Cowes in light to moderate conditions of 16-20 knots of breeze sailing with the blast reacher and full main sail. As we approached Fastnet Rock at 10.30am on Saturday, we changed to the Solent headsail as wind speeds increased to the mid 20's."
"We were then slowed up by headwinds and had to tack short of the Scilly Isles and bear off around Bishop's Rock. But the 12-15 knot wind increased to 20-25 knots and we made very good time into Plymouth covering the 100 mile stretch in just 4 hours."
The record breaking
crew:
Steve Fossett (USA), Skipper
Adrienne Cahalan (AUS), Navigator
David Scully (USA), Watch Captain
Peter Hogg (NZ), Watch Captain
Dave Calvert (USA)
Brad Cavanagh (USA)
Simon Cotter (UK)
Helena Darvelid (SWE)
Pete Berry (UK)
Quentin Dimmer (UK)
Dave Weir (USA)
Mark Featherstone (UK)
Scully also reported the boat was in great shape after the record and the only breakage was to his own nose after a minor mishap "After the recent winter work, PlayStation is now lighter and faster and the crew are hungry for more records."
Further record attempts contemplated for this spring's programme include Plymouth to La Rochelle, the TransMed run from Marseilles to Carthage and the Route of Discovery E-W TransAt from Cadiz to San Salvador.
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Photos by Cheryll Kerr / regattaphotos.com