To such a point that it became a race, bringing together the most famous clippers of the time, in 1866. A closely-followed race whose first three competitors were only hours apart after 99 days at sea. In 1990, Philippe Monnet reduced the record to 67 days, aboard his trimaran. Then Lionel Lemonchois took it in 2008 aboard Gitana 13, the 100-foot catamaran, in a little under 42 days.
Today, Giovanni Soldini and his crew (Guido Broggi, Oliver Herrera Perez, Alex Pella and Sébastien Audigane) have just established a new reference time, in 36 days and a handful of hours, aboard the 70-foot trimaran Maserati, at an average speed of 14.9 knots over the almost 13,000 miles of the course (17.4 knots over the 15,000 miles actually covered).
Relive it on www.maserati.soldini.it
