Maserati 900 miles to go...

Giovanni Soldini and his team are at the end of the “pot au noir”Maserati has still 900 miles to go for San FranciscoThe arrival is expected between February 15 and 17

After sailing non-stop for 38 days, Maserati is in the extreme north of the Pacific Ocean, in the notorious “pot au noir”: managing the boat is very demanding because of the doldrums, the light and unstable winds and the violent storms. Giovanni Soldini and his team have still to face 120 miles in these tough conditions, then they will finally reach the North Pacific trade winds that will take them in front of San Francisco. There are 900 miles to go for San Francisco and the estimated arrival time is between February 15 and 17.

“We have repaired the hole in the mast, Guido Broggi made a great job with the lamination. – says Soldini – About a hundred miles with tough weather conditions still stretch in front of us. Then, when we reach 8° N, we will deal with the high pressure area in front of the US coast. Maserati will have to sail close-hauled and enter the high pressure area to find a wind which turns from North and that will allow us to tack and sail on port tack to the finish line”.

Giovanni Soldini and his crew of eight sailors left New York on December 31, 2012 attempting to break the record of the historic Golden Route, 13.225 miles from New York to San Francisco. The time reference is set by Yves Parlier aboard Aquitaine Innovations (57 days and 3 hours, monohull category).

The 13225 nautical miles that separate New York from San Francisco via Cape Horn, are an historic route, widely travelled by clippers that were involved in the gold rush starting from the second half of 1800. The best result of the time was set in 1854 by Flying Cloud, exceptional vessel from the Boston shipyards, that reached San Francisco in 89 days and 21 hours, a record that stood for more than 130 years.

After several attempts by many boats, the 60-foot Thursday’s Child of Warren Luhrs arrived in San Francisco after 80 days and 20 hours in 1989. In 1994, Isabelle Autissier aboard Ecureuil Poitou took 62 days and 5 hours. Then, in 1998, Yves Parlier on board Aquitaine Innovations has dropped to 57 days, 3 hours, 2 minutes. This is the reference record for Giovanni Soldini and his crew who will try to beat it aboard the VOR70 Maserati, from the second half of December 2012.
The overall record in the multihull category belongs to Lionel Lemonchois that made the journey in 43 days and 38 minutes aboard Gitana 13 in 2008.