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Spirit of Cardiff arrived in Monaco late yesterday evening, knocking 1 hour 19 minutes off the 36 hours 58 minutes record for the fastest passage from Gibraltar to Monaco, set in 1998 by the Cable and Wireless Adventurer as the first leg of its round the world voyage.
Spirit of Cardiff skipper Alan Priddy said: "We always knew this would be a tough one to beat. It was the only leg of the Adventurer's round the world trip where they really went for it."
Spirit of Cardiff off Europa Point, the southerly tip of Gibraltar
The 773 nautical mile passage over 35 hours 39 minutes from Gibraltar to Monaco combined tactics with endurance, to ensure that the team kept up the best possible speed whilst keeping fuel consumption within limits. The voyage was deliberately started relatively slowly, with the speed building up as the fuel burned off and the boat's weight decreased. At its peak, the Yamaha powered Spirit of Cardiff was travelling at 27.6 knots.
There was one moment of high drama just 75 miles from Monaco, when the boat lost power, and the crew suspected transmission failure. Luckily it turned out to be no more than the choppy sea conditions causing the propeller to temporarily lose it's grip on the water!
Official UIM timekeepers recorded the boat's departure from Gibraltar and arrival in Monaco, while onboard journalist Clive Tully recorded the boat's position at regular intervals on the Raymarine navigation system, backed up by a handheld GPS receiver. The boat was also tracked remotely by a MarineTrack GPS system. This information will form the basis of the Spirit of Cardiff's record claim, which will be ratified by the Royal Yachting Association in Eastleigh.
Apart from breaking the Gibraltar-Monaco record, Spirit of Cardiff also set two new records, from Cardiff to Gibraltar and Cardiff to Monaco. Spirit of Cardiff's record run from Gibraltar to Monaco was supported by Associated British Ports and the Western Mail and Echo.
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