Stage 5 of The Ocean Race goes from record to record, with the leading trio setting impressive pace in the last 48 hours on the way to Aarhus, set to arrive in the Danish port at midnight Sunday.
First, it was the 11-hour race team, which set a new record, but it was soon eclipsed by the Holcim-PRB team, who seemed to set not only a new race record, but also the all-time record for the distance covered in 24 hours. in monocoque.
The tail boat of the leading trio was the last to encounter favorable conditions for record-breaking: downwind of 25 knots and relatively flat water, ideal for the latest generation of IMOCA that make up the fleet at The Ocean Race.
But if the sailors aboard Team Malizia start later, their finish is impressive. On Friday night around 22:20 UTC, the team surpassed the mark set by the Holcim-PRB team, narrowly setting the new standard: 641.13 nautical miles covered in 24 hours.
The data will need to be certified by the World Sailing Speed Record Council to be official, but it far exceeds the previous mark of 618.01 miles set by the 100ft Comanche maxi in 2015.
The lead pack is now (1100 UTC Saturday) climbing the west coast of Scotland and about to turn east around the top of the UK and heading towards Denmark.
