One year ago, the 24-hour distance record for a monohull was smashed by the IMOCA teams racing across the Atlantic in leg 5 of The Ocean Race.
Previously, the record had been set by the monster 100-footer “Comanche”, with previous skipper of The Ocean Race Ken Read in charge, back in 2015. The ratified distance sailed was 618.01nautical miles.
But last year, first Team Holcim-PRB and then Team Malizia, would blow past this mark, setting the new standard.
It was Team Holcim-PRB who initially set the new mark at 640.48 nautical miles, a record later ratified by the World Sailing Speed Record Council (WSSRC).
Hours later, Team Malizia would go even further. Race Control measured their 24-hour distance at 641.13 nautical miles. But crucially, under WSSRC rules, a new record is only acknowledged when it is one full nautical mile better than the previous record, and Team Malzia’s run falls just shy of this.
That leaves us in a strange position where the WSSRC 24-hour distance record is held by Team Holcim-PRB, while the standard for The Ocean Race (previously set by Team AkzoNobel in 2018) now sits with Team Malizia.
“It may seem strange to have two teams making claims to the 24-hour distance record, but in terms of The Ocean Race we’re very confident in the data from the boats and we don’t have the same rules as the WSSRC requiring a previous record be broken by a full nautical mile,” said Phil Lawrence, Race Director for The Ocean Race.
“Looking back to that day one year ago, it is clear that both teams had exceptional runs in nearly perfect conditions for foiling IMOCAs and they blew the previous record out of the water. Now we’ll need someone to go one better in the next race to unify the title!”
You can see more about the reporting at the time here
