Orange 2 takes new Atlantic record

[marshmat]

Word on the street has it that the French supermaxi cat, Orange II, set a new trans-Atlantic record of 4 days, 8 hours, 23 minutes 54 seconds when it passed Lizard Point on Friday. And this with only 12 crew on two watches, and after losing a rudder in the middle of the ocean.
http://www.gizmag.com/go/5833/
http://www.sail-world.com/news.cfm?N...estTimeOut=180
http://www.ybw.com/auto/newsdesk/200...649ywnews.html
Any thoughts?

[yipster]

averaging 27 knt 4 days 8 hrs 23 minutes not metioning the seconds, minus 8 hrs for the rudder accident,
and more maxi's coming up, sounds good, proficiat

[rayaldridge]

So why have the record-breakers been cats, lately? Isn't it generally accepted that trimarans are faster over ocean courses, because they do better in light air? Or is it that these record-setting crossings are planned so that there is as little light air as possible, and that the big cats are better able to handle the heavy air?

Ray

[Seafarer24]

Ray- think about it for a moment. If you don't have the wind to go 40 knots, you're not going to beat the record. If you've got that much wind, you're better off in a catamaran. If you've got to cross the Atlantic in 4 days or less, you can time it to play the weather.

[frosh]

Even though there are wealthy sponsors in place for the super maxi high tech multihulls the costs are astronomical compared to regular boats. Also considering that they are one offs, and the hulls and beams at least require molds to be built, a catamaran with one hull shape and a simpler beam structure must be considerably cheaper than constructing plugs, molds and hulls for two different shapes. Also the crossbeams are greater in number on a tri, and each would require an individual mold. I would also guess that construction time would be longer also.
Maybe the sponsors do not really care about the final cost, but it could be a factor.