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From 1905 to Nowadays
Atlantic's record was born from an almost unique set of circumstances : a large low pressure system that overran the yacht mid-way across the ocean; a schooner rig that just happened to be perfectly suited to the prevailing conditions, and a skipper who cast all caution to the wind - including those expressed by his owner who had to be locked in his cabin!
In 1905, skippered by Captain Charles Barr, a three-time defender
of the America's Cup, Atlantic was one of 11 yachts to line up for a race
for a $5,000 Gold Cup presented by Kaiser Willem III.
He sets one of the most durable records in sporting history: A 92 year
old bench-mark set by the 185ft 3-masted American schooner Atlantic which
completed the 2,925 mile crossing from Sandy Hook Light Ship off New York
to Lizard Point, England in 12 days, 4 hours and 12 minutes.
Over the years many have attempted to break Atlantic's time, and some have succeeded, but always with the benefit of multihull design, power assistance or without official timing.
The most notable record breakers to date have been the legendary French yachtsman Eric Tabarly whose radical 53ft foil assisted trimaran "Paul Ricard" clipped almost 2 days off Atlantic's time on August 1. 1980.
7 years after Eric Tabarly, the Frenchman Serge Madec and his 75ft catamaran Jet Services V sets the new record at 6 days, 13 hours, 03 minutes- but again, she was a multihull.
The Grand Mistral Nicorette 80 footer, may be almost 40% of Atlantic's size, but built of the latest lightweight composite materials, she is designed to surf in these roller-coaster conditions and can maintain a much higher average speed in calmer winds.
Skippered by Ludde Ingvall, she breaks the Sunday April,6 1997 the record of Barr, 92 years old, over 14 hours, 38 minutes and 50 seconds.
But, a great advantage Ingvall has over Charlie Barr, is a much better insight to the weather. While Barr relied almost exclusively on his own intuition and rise and fall of the barometer pen, the Nicorette crew can rely on a constant feed of satellite weather pictures and an expert weather-routing service to provide hour-by-hour updates when necessary. Ludde can also pick his time, and is prepared to wait in New York for a month if necessary for the right conditions to build.
Therefore, the 244ft four-masted schooner Phocea, and Dennis Conner's Whitbread 60 entry Winston, have already broken Atlantic's time, but haven't been ratified.
- - the Phocea had the advantage of power assisted winches to control her sails which do not conform to the traditional man-powered methods.
-Winston with Dennis Conner onboard, also clipped 20 hours off Atlantic's time during a transatlantic race from New York to Southampton 1n 1993, but there was no one organised to witness Winston passing the Lizard.
| ATLANTIC | NICORETTE | |
| Length overall: | 187ft (57m) | 80ft (24.5m) |
| Waterline length: | 138ft (42m) | 69.2ft (21.3m) |
| Beam: | 29.5ft (8.84m) | 20.3ft (6.2m) |
| Displacement: | 303 tonnes (Thames meas.) | 12.1 tonnes |
| Sail Area: | 18,514sq. ft. (1,722sq. m) | 3,519sq ft (327sq M) |
Link website : Atlantic/Nicorette
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