The 24-hour record has won over the best sailors for decades.

After Mike Birch, Steve Fossett, Grant Dalton or Bruno Peyron, it is the turn of François Gabart, Franck Cammas, Thomas Coville to set out to conquer the feat.

“The 1,000 mile mark will be extraordinary. Make people aware that we are using the wind to move forward but that we are going twice as fast as the wind. On the odometer, 40 knots (74 km / h), even for us, it remains an incredible emotion. It is a very important marker for us ", explains to AFP Thomas Coville, at the helm of an Ultimate (Sodebo Ultim 3).

These boats, giant maxi-trimarans (32 m long) capable of flying thanks to their foils (side appendages), are latest generation machines, reserved for a handful of experienced sailors, who alone can achieve this record.

The very first mark was established in 1854: between December 10 and 11, Captain Alexander Newlands sailed 467 nautical miles (865 km) at 19.6 knots (36 km / h) on board the Champion. of the Seas, a huge 69-meter (225-foot) sailboat.

"In the order of the possible"

It will take 140 years for the first performance to be approved by the WSSR (World Sailing Speed ​​Record Council).

In 1994, Laurent Bourgnon, on his 60-foot (18 m) trimaran, covered 540 nm (1,000 km) alone, at an average of 22.5 knots (42 km / h).

Today, it is about going twice as fast, 27 years after Bourgnon.

Skipper Franck Cammas celebrates his victory in the Transat Jacques Vabre, Ultimate category, aboard the maxi-trimaran Edmond de Rothschild in Fort-de-France, November 23, 2021 Lionel CHAMOISEAU AFP / Archives

“Forty-two knots (78 km / h) in an hour is an impressive number. And if we can do that on the 24 hour record, wow! That's great! It's 1,000 miles. It would be great to be able to do that. It is not a completely crazy thing, it is of the order of the possible ", underlines with AFP François Gabart, holder of the world record in single-handed (42 days) and skipper of the last born of the Ultimes (SVR Lazartigue).

Franck Cammas has already entered his name on the 24-hour record list.

In 2007, on a Groupama 3 (31-meter trimaran), it covered 794 nm (1,470 km), at an average of 33.08 knots (61 km / h).

"So far our flying boats haven't broken the 24-hour record, but we haven't made the Atlantic record either and that's where we often do it. And also on the Trophy. Jules Verne, on the southern Atlantic part ", told AFP Franck Cammas, skipper of the Maxi Edmond de Rothschild, together with Charles Caudrelier.

To aim for 1,000 miles in 24 hours, you need to have relatively similar conditions for 24 hours and a long course.

Nothing better than a world tour.

And Cammas and Caudrelier have every intention of securing the performance quickly, especially since they will attempt at the end of December the Jules Verne Trophy, the record for round-the-world crewed work, ie 40 days and 23 hours to beat.

"Wall of sound"

They could therefore improve the 24-hour mark, which has not moved since 2009, and the 908 nm (1,681 km) at 37.84 knots (70 km / h) of Pascal Bidégorry (on Banque Populaire 5, a trimaran 40 m).

And maybe they'll push their flying machine to 50 knots (93 km / h), which no racing boat has done.

The skipper Thomas Coville poses aboard the multihull "Sodebo", off Lorient, on October 12, 2021, a few weeks before his departure for the Transat Jacques Vabre LOIC VENANCE AFP / Archives

"It's a real physical wall, a bit like the sound barrier during the pioneering days of aviation in the 1950s, when things didn't go through. Or those who did didn't come back because everything was falling apart. ", comments Yves Le Blévec, skipper of Actual Ultim 3.

"We are not breaking up the boats, but there is a real physical phenomenon which means that beyond 50 knots, it no longer works, it cavitates. We should be able to change foils (for smaller ones) and we are not there ", continues the navigator, who would like to see what color is displayed on the screen when the counter climbs to 50 knots - each ten appearing in a different color.

© 2021 AFP