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November 09th 2001 - 13.30 GMT
PlayStation Sets Another Monster New Record
New 'Round The Island' Record For Fossett & Crew
2 hours 33 min 55 secs
Over 36 minutes off old record
After the disappointment of having to scrap yesterday's Cowes-St Malo record attempt due to excessive weather, Skipper Steve Fossett's 125' Maxi-Catamaran PlayStation and her 13 person crew set out from Empress Dock, Southampton this morning with a target - to reclaim the traditional Isle of Wight 'Round the Island' record Fossett (USA) had held since 1994 - but which was broken in June of this year by Rodney Pattison (GB) and Francis Joyon (Fr) on the 60' trimaran Dexia Eure et Loire (3 hours 10 minutes).
They achieved their goal, with a new record of 2 hours 33 mins 55 secs, over 36 minutes faster than the previous mark (pending ratification by the WSSRC).
When Steve set the prior mark (3 hours 35 minutes) aboard the trimaran Lakota his crew included Ben Wright, Dave Scully and Helena Darvelid - all of whom were on PlayStation today.
"This is a special satisfaction for all of us. Back in 1994 we thought the best conditions would be a north wind - and today we had really excellent conditions. We saw 39 kts top speed on the back side of the island.
Wind was between 25-30 kts the whole way. We needed 1 tack (at the Needles) and 1 gybe (at Bembridge) all the way around".
Navigator Stan Honey: " This was a perfect race. The boat was great, the crew were sharp, and we had great conditions."
PlayStation's Crew
Steve Fossett (USA) Skipper
Stan Honey (USA) Navigator
Ben Wright (AUS)
Shaun Biddulph (UK)
Dave Scully (USA)
Peter Hogg (NZ)
Chris Tibbs (UK)
Tom Swift (GER)
Paul Hakes (NZ)
Brad Cavanagh (USA)
Helena Darvelid (UK/SWE)
Pascal Blouin (FRA)
Steve Hammond (UK)
As for the Cowes-St Malo Channel Record, Steve advised that no suitable weather pattern was on the horizon for the next week " so we'll all go home now and keep a watch out for another opportunity this season."
For information on the
Channel Record Trophy please contact Windevent (tel +33 299 40 49 33 or email
fs@windward.fr)
For details on all WSSRC records see www.sailspeedrecords.com
November 09th 2001 - 10.20 GMT
PlayStation Sets Off on 'Round The Island' Record Attempt
Fossett & Crew Cross Start Line at 10:02.29 GMT
November 9th, 2001 Cowes, Isle of Wight, UK
PlayStation and her 13 person crew set out from Empress Dock, Southampton this morning and crossed the start line at the Royal Yacht Squadron, Cowes at 10:02.29 on a 50 mile course around the Isle of Wight - the tradional 'Round the Island' Course.
With the exception of Roland Gaebler, who had to return to Germany, the crew is the same as for yesterday's aborted start on the Cowes-St Malo record, now postponed until a better weather pattern appears.
At the start wind was 26 kts (North-Northwest from 350 degrees).
The current record of 3 hours 10 minutes was set in June of this year by the 60' trimaran Dexia Eure et Loire.
Updates to follow
November 08th 2001 - 18.00 GMT
PlayStation Cowes - St Malo Attempt Postponed as Winds Shift
'Round the Island Record' Attempt on for Friday Nov 9th
Southampton 8 November 2001 1800 GMT
Steve Fossett: "It was worth the try. The weather as forecast would have worked, but when we left the Solent it was blowing at least 10 knots more than expected. This was beyond the safety zone so we had to abort. At least the helicopter got some great footage."
With a strong crew already assembled Steve has decided to have a crack at retrieving the Isle of Wight 'Round the Island' record.
"Conditions are now very poor for a Cowes - St Malo record but a Northeast wind is ideal to go 'Round the Island'. We used to hold this record (3 h 35 min set on Lakota in 1994) and it was broken last summer by Rodney Pattison sailing Dexia Eure et Loire in a time of 3 h 10 min. I'd like to get it back!"
PlayStation will leave the Empress Dock in Southampton Friday morning (9 November) around 0700 GMT and be ready to start about 0900.
There appears to be no good weather pattern for a further attempt on the Cowes-St Malo record for the next week at least, so the plan now is for the crew to return home and wait for a new opportunity over the coming weeks.
November 08th 2001 - 09.30 GMT
Morning Record Attempt Aborted Due to 50 Knot Gusts
Possible Restart Later Today - Stay Tuned
8 November 2001 0930 GMT
One hour into the attempt and with the winds gusting to 50 knots and forecast 40-50 knots all the way, skipper Steve Fossett decided to abort this morning's start on the Cowes - St Malo Cross Channel Record.
PlayStation is currently heading back towards Southampton. As yet no decision has been made whether to restart this afternoon.
Steve Fossett: "If the wind dies down enough we could go on the next tide (around 4pm) but we are holding off on that decision. Nothing is broken, but it was necessary to abort the attempt. We cannot maintain enough speed due to the rough seas."
November 08th 2001 - 08.44 GMT
They're OFF
Fossett and PlayStation Target Cowes-St Malo Channel Record
Cowes, Isle of Wight, UK 08 November 2001 - 0844 GMT:
After a night of particularly nasty weather waiting for a wind shift at the Isle of Wight, Steve Fossett and his crew of 13 aboard PlayStation crossed the Royal Yacht Squadron's Cowes startline at exactly 08.26.26 GMT this morning. Their target is the 1997 Cowes-St Malo Record set by Tracy Edwards and crew on Royal & Sun Alliance at 6 hours 49 mins 19 seconds for the 138 nm course.
They are sailing on the main (1 reef) and the staysail making 17 kts and hope to get out of the Solent without tacking before taking up their heading for France.
Cross Channel winds are expected to be from 310 degrees at 30-35 kts gusting and unstable, with sea state 10-12 feet. A decision whether or not to take a second reef will be taken before they leave the Solent.
As Steve said to James Boyd of www.madforsailing.com last night:
"It'll be a bashing and we'll see what the boat can take. We'll start with the prospect of a substantial improvement on the record to allow for things to go wrong, but in the end we'll be hoping just to break the record."
Message received from Steve Fossett at 0740 gmt - "We're raising the mainsail now and expect to cross the start line around 0800-0815. If it looks good after 20 minutes, we'll carry on. If not, we'll circle back for a later start..."
November 07th 2001 - 18.00 GMT
PlayStation and Crew Code Green for Cowes - St Malo Record Attempt
WSSRC Record and Channel Record Trophy Targeted for Thursday
Southampton, UK 7 November 2001
Following on from their magnificent TransAtlantic and 24 Hour record breaking exploits in October, PlayStation skipper Steve Fossett and his crew have set their sights on another speed sailing benchmark. Last night, Steve advised they are Code Green for an attempt on one of the fastest records in the book - the cross channel Cowes (UK) to St Malo (France) record on Thursday 8 November.
Maxi cat PlayStation will leave her base at Ocean Village, Southampton at approximately 0200 GMT Thursday morning and cross the start line at Cowes, Isle of Wight between 0300 and 0600 for the short hop across the English Channel to St Malo in France.
The current record for the 138 nm (221 km) course is held by UK skipper Tracy Edwards sailing the 92 ft / 28 m catamaran Royal & Sun Alliance in October 1997. Edwards and her all female crew set a time of 6h 49m 19s at an average speed of 20.23 kts.
Weather guru Tom Mattus at Commanders Weather: "This will be a pretty rough ride. The wind and sea state are both high - not ideal and certainly not the smooth seas we saw across the Atlantic last month. At present (1530 GMT) winds at the mid channel buoy are running 32 knots with seas of 6-10 feet while winds nearer the shore are 15-25 knots, picking up overnight."
"They should have Northwest direct wind by tomorrow (Thursday) morning. Steve will have to make his decision then."
PlayStation's Crew
Steve Fossett (USA) Skipper
Stan Honey (USA) Navigator
Ben Wright (AUS)
Shaun Biddulph (UK)
Dave Scully (USA)
Peter Hogg (NZ)
Chris Tibbs (UK)
Tom Swift (GER)
Paul Hakes (NZ)
Roland Gaebler (GER)
Brad Cavanagh (USA)
Helena Darvelid (UK/SWE)
Pascal Blouin (FRA)
Steve Hammond (UK)
In addition to targeting the record course recognised by the WSSRC (World Sailing Speed Record Council) PlayStation will become the first challenger for the recently announced 'Channel Record Trophy' established in France to recognise the best run every year on the shortest ocean passage course in the record book. For information on the Channel Record Trophy please contact Windevent (tel +33 299 40 49 33 or email fs@windward.fr)