#WorldRecord - Now on day six of their Discovery route record attempt, Dona Bertarelli and Yann Guichard's Spindrift 2 is on the home stretch as the aim to reach the Bahamas in the early hours of tomorrow morning (6 November).
After setting out from Cadiz in Spain last Thursday 31 October, the world's largest racing trimaran experienced her first major difficulties of the transatlantic challenge over the past 24 hours, losing significant pace in rough seas between two violent squalls and seeing her first mechanical failure of the voyage, though that was quickly resolved.
The boat managed an average of just 14.5 knots overnight to advance 175 miles, seeing their lead on the current record holder slip by 60 miles in a single day.
But co-skippers Bertarelli and Guichard and their experienced crew put so many miles in the bag earlier in the week that they still have a massive 270-mile lead on the old record, set in May 2007 - now an age away in terms of boat development.
And with a strong northerly breeze coming down the North American coastline towards the Bahamas, the last 600 miles of the race should see Spindrift 2 show her fullest potential as the 'F1 of the seas'.
"This last phase of the course looks like is going to be tough," admits Bertarelli, noting storms on the radar at the finish line, but Spindrift 2 "is a beast of a machine, her strength in the strong wind is phenomenal."
