Skipper Kevin Escoffier and his Team Holcim-PRB have shattered existing 24 hour distance records in the monohull class.
First to fall was The Ocean Race record of 602 nautical miles, set in the last race by Simeon Tienpont’s Team AkzoNobel.
A few hours later and the outright monohull record, 618 nautical miles, set by the 100 footer Comanche in 2015, had been eclipsed.
As at 2300 UTC on Thursday night, Team Holcim-PRB was at over 630 nautical miles and still adding to its total.
Conditions have been near perfect for making a record run – downwind reaching, in 25-27 knots of wind, with a relatively flat sea state.
In fact, Escoffier predicted this result earlier in the day: “Yesterday, we caught up with a weather front. We passed in front of it and now we are following it on starboard tack, which gives us high speeds… The sea is flat which is rather pleasant… If it goes on like this, we will break the 24-hour record again.”
Team Holcim-PRB hasn’t been alone on this record-breaking mission. In fact, the first into the favourable conditions was 11th Hour Racing Team who were also the first to push past the existing race record.
But they topped out their run at 611 nautical miles, all the more remarkable considering the team reported a collision with what the crew “suspect(s) to be a marine mammal or megafauna…”
The boat came to a sudden stop and according to the team, trimmer Charlie Dalin suffered a suspected mild concussion, and media crew member Amory Ross injured his shoulder. After consultation with the on shore race doctor, who has prescribed rest and monitoring, the team is continuing to race towards Aarhus. The boat does not appear to be damaged and remains at the front of the fleet.
Nearly 80 miles back, Team Malizia were the last of the leading trio to enter the ‘record run’ conditions and the team is starting to post impressive stats. As at 2300 UTC, skipper Boris Herrmann and his crew were near the 610 mile mark and still climbing.
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