Maiden II narrowly misses transatlantic record
by Maiden II Media 22 Apr 2002 12:49 BST
In a frustrating finale to Maiden II's westbound transatlantic crossing, the Bahamian winds denied the crew the opportunity to break the two-year-old record. With 200 miles remaining to break the
record last night, the local winds died, leaving a few knots of upwind breeze for the maxi-catamaran. Continuing would have required sailing upwards of 300 miles in a faltering breeze. At 1900 GMT on day 10, the crew consulted with Sailing Director Tracy Edwards and decided to call off the record attempt.
Edwards was clearly pleased with the progress the crew has made in such a short space of time, whilst being frustrated that the conditions had not allowed Maiden II to break a record on her first proper voyage.
"We decided to abandon the attempt when we knew that the wind was not going to let us finish in time. There is no prize for second place when you are breaking records! I'm thrilled that the crew has achieved such a fast transatlantic crossing. Although it would have been good to have broken a record at our first attempt, they did a great job to catch up with Club Med's time, with two days to go. They really deserved to be in the record books. We'll come back and break it soon!"
"With only four days training to get used to the boat and get her up to speed, to come so close is an achievement in itself. Grant Dalton had been training for months before they tried the record and they also broke the 24 hour record. It's amazing to thik that Maiden II only went back in the
water 26 days ago!
"The crew have clearly proved that we are 'on the pace' with this amazing boat and as a training exercise this attempt has been invaluable. If we continue to progress at this rate, then I'm sure that we can break the Jules Verne record next year."
Maiden II was at 23 48N 71 04W when the decision to change course for Antigua was made.
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