In 2003, Robert Miller and his monohull Mary Cha IV set the world speed record for sailing from New York to Cape Lizard, at 6 days, 17 hours, 52 minutes and 39 seconds.
Giovanni Soldini and his crew aboard Maserati are now looking to shatter it. The 70ft racing yacht left New York at 0320 this morning in pursuit of sailing glory. In addition to Soldini, the eight-person crew includes watch leader Brad Van Liew of Charleston, South Carolina, recent winner of the Velux 5 Oceans Race.
Maserati will be at an initial disadvantage, due to the fact that it is twice as small as Miller’s monohull with much less manpower behind it. But if it can exceed an average speed of 18.5 knots for the entire 2925 miles, the outlook will be positive. Still, the crew must be wary of other obstacles.
“The three major challenges will be the unpredictable thunderstorms out of New York, the large area of icebergs south and east of Nova Scotia with strong winds and a water temperature of 2.4 degrees Celsius, and another area of uncertain weather near the finish line,” said Van Liew.
Readers can follow the progress of Maseratihere.
