Ultim Tri Macif round the world in solo

I have found an old quotation of Francois Gabart about foil on Macif, dated from the Jacques Vabre 2015 race when Macif had a foil on one ama only : ".....The boat is really completely different with or without foil: it works very well without, but as soon as it goes fast, it caps, and it is difficult to go to more than 28 knots, whereas there, at the moment where I speak, with the foil, we advance to 30-35 knots for a few hours. This is a real discovery for us, we are only at the beginning ..."
Associated video which shows the foil full deployed, but the sea is flat :

 

There he goes

 

Looks as if the old foil is much shorter, at least height-wise, than the foil being used now.

 

What FG wants to avoid at all cost for the last leg, Macif glued in too light winds :

 

Macif sails since yesterday with the Gennaker, the first time since Francois Gabart had almost never been able to roll it (and so to save it) in Indian ocean, and very useful now that light winds are back. JY Bernot : "A last obstacle without wind to negotiate, a ridge of high pressure that blocks the road, François has to wait for it to move, and it moves rather slowly, he will have to follow it at the same rate". I think it's a deliberately enigmatic message from J-Y Bernot as no strategy can be yet planned for sure, but up to now this ridge does not extend to the South as it was feared, neither grows in thickness.
Video : [Vidéo] Le récap' du 41è jour en images - Macif Course au Large https://www.macifcourseaularge.com/actus/video-recap-41e-jour-images/
Cartography : Cartographie - Macif Course au Large https://www.macifcourseaularge.com/cartographie

PS : it is a paradox as Brest is again in alert strong winds for the next 24 h (gusts 75 to 100 km/h)
Alerte intempéries pour Brest http://alerte.vigilance-meteo.fr/getwarning_fr.php?xpos=99&ypos=208&bland=bretagne&lang=fr

 

Wow. He went too far north. That low wind area IS indeed going to Glue him. He's going to have to do a starboard tack quickly.

 

That winch turn counter must be broken.

 

"but up to now this ridge does not extend to the South as it was feared, neither grows in thickness."

Oh well, he has missed the chance to duck below it - he will just have to push through, and hope he can get out the other side.

It would be a shame if he ends up being the meat in the sandwich all the way to the coast.

 

Eventually, decision was taken for a contour by the North of this moving ridge of high pressure, but implying a sudden shortage of wind this friday morning and a speed dropping to less than 4 knots during few hours of uncertainties with a sea agitated by a long swell.....But fortunately, wind is back, the contour by the North reveals not too long and allows a progressive curvature of the route towards Ireland from which Francois Gabart could finally go down directly to Ouessant line arrival, the worst (to be glued N hours) seems behind.
This lead to more confidence on the date of arrival, expected Sunday morning, not a bad choice for a popular welcome at Brest . That means 43 days and few hours. Once the line cut, Macif web site and Facebook site will broadcast live TV from the mouth of the gulf of Brest to the quay. National TV channels will also broadcast live TV, more details tomorrow.

Video of yesterday Sunset, light winds, with Gennaker and J3 : [Vidéo du bord] 43° Nord à J-2 de l'arrivée - Macif Course au Large https://www.macifcourseaularge.com/actus/video-bord-43-nord-a-j-2-de-larrivee/

Cartographie : Cartographie - Macif Course au Large https://www.macifcourseaularge.com/cartographie

 

Video of the overflight of Macif at 20-25 knots this afternoon by the French Navy :
​

Info about the arrival tomorrow morning :
Expected line cut : 4h to 4h30 (french hour) (So in the night, Line is Cap Lizard to Ouessant as showed on the cartography, Authority to certify the time is the World Sailing Speed Record Council : World Sailing Speed Record Council https://sailspeedrecords.com/ )
Beginning of the Video live : 10h (french hour)
Arrival in Brest, Quai Malbert : about 11h
Video Live on net :
- Macif Course au large web site : Accueil - Macif Course au Large https://www.macifcourseaularge.com/
- Facebook site : Macif Course au Large https://www.facebook.com/MacifCourseAuLarge/
TV Channels :
- BFM TV : BFMTV en Direct: regarder la chaine info en live - BFMTV http://www.bfmtv.com/mediaplayer/live-video/
- France TV

Cartography : Cartographie - Macif Course au Large https://www.macifcourseaularge.com/cartographie

 

Dolfiman, I just want to thank you again for all the effort you put in to keep this forum abreast of developments all the way around the world! Great job-well done!
And congratulations to Francois Gabart and Team Macif. Going to be interesting to see what mods they make to the boat now-I bet they add a foil on the daggerboard...

 

Dear Doug, Many thanks, this performance indeed deserved daily info in English and I don't understand why Macif web site have not proposed such translation of their news otherwise well organised and informed

Finally : 42 days 16 hours 40 mn 35 s

Next confrontations with Gitana 17 and Banque Pop 9 will be instructive, and especially on the roles of foils to be able to maintain such high speed on sea states, what impressed me a lot.

 

Some quotations from Francois Gabart first interview :
"Next step is to fly most of the time, 90% , we are not far from that. If we can fly from 15 knots wind, we can find the meteo route that goes with, and the record can be beaten widely"
"To sleep at high speed is the challenge, you have to be confident in your boat, but it is hot"

 

I note that the new records made Australian National News today.

I would be in favor of making the attempt with two crew. The extra weight would be relatively low, but the safety and assistance factors would be great benefits.

 

Dolphiman: I echo the applause for the English translation. It has been a pleasure to watch the progress of Team Macif. I agree the record could be broken again with a faster boat on foils, but one can only be awake for so many hours to take advantage of it. A larger crew vs. solo effort will be the best route in my opinion. I couldn't sleep at night if my boat was on foils. Risky to say the least.