A multi-national crew in a monohull racing yacht is attempting a world record for a North Atlantic crossing.
Maserati underway Image: Maserati |
Named Maserati after its famous supercar sponsor, the VOR 70 monohull is aiming to set a new speed record for the crossing between Cadiz in Spain and San Salvador in the Bahamas. Skippered by Giovanni Soldini, the boat will be the first single-hulled yacht to attempt the crossing. In recent years, only super-fast maxi trimarans have made the difficult journey.
Soldini is backed by a six-man crew from hsi native Italy as well as Germany, the US and Spain. The total route is more than 3800 miles (6100km) in length and the team faces potential extremes of weather with high and low weather fronts providing potential stop-start progress.
The journey is being monitored by the World Sailing Speed Record Council and the route is one of many that were originally plied by the huge sailing clippers that carried cargo across the oceans. By day six the team had passed the half way mark and were making good progress.