Holcim-PRB breaks the 24-hour distance record  with 640.91 miles

At full speed across the Atlantic, Team Holcim-PRB broke the 24-hour distance record for a crewed monohull. The IMOCA sailed a remarkable 640.91 miles! The record had previously been held by Comanche, a maxi-monohull much larger than Holcim- PRB (100 feet vs. 60 feet) and sailed by a crew of fifteen, with 618 miles covered. The Swiss monohull had already broken the 24-hour distance record in the IMOCA class. That was on Leg 3, in the Southern Ocean, with a distance of 594.8 miles.

The team benefited from ideal conditions in the North Atlantic, with a steady downwind breeze and flat seas, to achieve an exceptional level of performance. While Holcim-PRB suffered a dismasting off Brazil on Leg 4, this high-speed performance is a source of immense satisfaction for the entire team, who worked hard to enable the sailors to get back into the race last Sunday from Newport.

The skipper of Holcim-PRB also holds the same record, but this time in a multihull, with 908.2 miles covered in August 2009 aboard the Banque Populaire V trimaran. 

Current leaders in the overall ranking are obviously thrilled by this record, but have not lost sight of the objective of this leg, which counts double. The aim is to place the green and blue monohull on the top step of the podium. There is no intention of changing the method that was meticulously applied since the start of the race: concentration, team emulation, risk management. The competition on the Atlantic is tough. 11th Hour Racing Team, currently in the lead, is a strong opponent on the way to Denmark, as is third-placed Malizia. Holcim-PRB is less than 5 miles behind the Americans and some 50 miles ahead of the Germans. The leading trio are keeping up their pace, well settled in a southwesterly flow of around twenty knots, and should soon have to deal with the gybe point, a decisive moment for the climb back towards the Shetland Islands.

Charles Caudrelier