The albatrosses of California, flying fish, a deep blue sky, a small gennaker which we’re getting between 28 and 32 knots of headway out of… these past 24 hours have been idyllic. It was Hawaii in Hawaii, even if we left the islands a long way to the south of us. We honoured the reputation of the area in any case, with surfs that seemed to go on forever and likely to make even the most blasé of surfers green with envy. 32, 33, 35, and a peak recorded at 37.4 knots! However, the official record remains with our skipper for the time being. Just hours after passing under the Golden Gate Bridge, Lionel gave us a surf at 39.7 knots; an introductory offering to show just how determined he is to snatch this record. Of course this is currently held by Geronimo, a multihull which is bigger and more modern than Gitana 13. Having had the privilege to sail on her, I can attest to the fact that it’s an excellent boat so we’re really going to have to have the pedal to the metal the whole time if we’re going to rewrite the history books.
It is 1500 hours in France but out here the day won’t be dawning for a good couple of hours yet. As usual, it’s one of the unwritten rules aboard that everyone has a turn at the helm, even if the time spent there isn’t necessarily equal. And if there was one person in particular that had a smile on his face today it was Kojiro Shiraishi! Peaking at 35 knots and an hour spent almost constantly over 30, he has absolutely pulverised his personal best. This is hardly surprising since sailing boats capable of going so fast in the middle of the Pacific can be counted, if you’re being generous, on the fingers of one hand!
Until tomorrow
Nicolas Raynaud