Maiden II Breaks the 24 Hour Record

Tracy Edwards' 110 ft maxi-catamaran, Maiden II has successfully broken the current 24 hour distant record that is currently held by Steve Fosset onboard Playstation, with a run of 697 nm to be ratified by the World Speed Sailing Record Council tomorrow morning.

The crew set sail from Newport to a point South-South East that had been identified by navigator Adrienne Cahalan, at 1914 UTC yesterday, Wednesday 12 June. 24 hours later, Maiden II has become the fastest ocean going yacht in the world. With speeds clocked at 44 knots and an unofficial average speed of 29 knots, the crew of Maiden II has worked extremely hard over the last 36 hours pushing the boat to its limit.

Whilst the team are assured of having broken the record, the exact distance is to be determined. The 110 ft catamaran achieved 697 nautical miles in 24 hours and two minutes, but as this is over the time allowed, a different period will have to be chosen. In a slightly earlier period of 23 hours and 56 minutes, the team managed a fraction under 695 nautical miles.

Under the name of Club Med, during qualification for The Race 2000/2001 along the Cadiz (Spain) / San Salvador (Bahamas) route, the catamaran from the design board of the Gilles Ollier Design Team was the first yacht in the world to break the 600 miles in 24 hours barrier. And this just three weeks after her launching.

During The Race, which she won in Mars 2001, Club Med reeled off 655.2 miles in the Pacific Ocean, on the approach to Cape Horn.

According to Christian Février, official observer for the WSSRC that monitored the attempt hour by hour: "if the wind hadn't fallen for 2 hours midway through, the 700 miles could have been achieved without a problem". Maiden II held an average of 32.75 knots for 4 hours covering 131 miles, with a peak at 44 knots. And yet the performance is a sizeable one because Maiden II measures 5 metres less than PlayStation which held the record since October 2001. The skipper, navigator and watch captain on board Maiden II, Helena Darvelid, Adrienne Cahalan and Brian Thompson, quickly got the measure of the boat to drive her to her full potential.

Maiden 2's record is currently awaiting ratification. The distance sailed needs to be at least one mile greater than the previous record in order to be ratified by the World Speed Sailing Record Council, the body that oversees new records. Timed position reports from the vessel must be GPS (Global Satellite Positioning) positions, which are then transmitted onwards to an approved base station. These positions must be collected and forwarded without any action by the crew on the vessel.

Upon ratification EDS will present their 24 hour multihull record trophy to the team.

Gordon Moultrie, vice president, EDS EMEA marketing and communications comments: "EDS congratulates Helena and the rest of the crew aboard Maiden 2 for an amazing 24-hour run. Earlier this week we were proud to present illbruck with the EDS Trophy for the 24-hour monohull record that they set in April, and it is great to see these records continuing to tumble as these boats further push the boundaries of extreme performance and outstanding individual and team achievement."

EDS are the official sponsors of the 24-Hour Monohull World Speed Record Trophy and the 24-Hour Multihull World Sailing Speed Record Trophy and have been working with the World Speed Record Council since July 2001.

The trophy, which the crew will receive is perpetual and housed in the Yacht Club de France in Paris.

Updates at www.maiden2.com