Just weeks after its finish in San Francisco, where it racked up a new record for the Route de l¹Or (New York to San Francisco via Cape Horn) in 43 days 3 minutes and 18 seconds, the crew of the 33-metre maxi-catamaran Gitana 13 will take to the seas again.

Lionel Lemonchois and his men will be attacking the North Pacific crossing record between San Francisco and Yokohama; a record which currently belongs to French sailor Olivier de Kersauson and his crew aboard a 34 metre trimaran Geronimo. The crew of Gitana 13 will have to better the record of 14 days 22 hours 40 minutes and 41 seconds to be able to add a new record to their conquests.

Given the latest weather information from Météo France, Gitana 13 may well set off to tackle this new record at the end of the
week: ³We were aiming for a gap around 27th, 28th March but the window seems to have shifted slightly and today we¹re focusing more on a departure between 29th and 31st March,² Lemonchois said. "The situation which the various weather files are presenting will enable the crew of Gitana 13 to gain westing for 3 to 4 days to hunt down the tradewinds. It's an attractive configuration in terms of gaining ground along the
route."

More information: Gitana 13
Yachting Monthly, 27 March 2008