Mari-Cha IV smashes West Coast - Hawaii Pacific Ocean record
by Victoria Fuller 8 Jul 2004 09:36 BST
At 18:13:30 HST (04:13:30 UTC) today, the Mari-Cha IV team crossed the West Marine Pacific Cup finish line at Kaneohe Bay, Oahu Island, to smash the West Coast - Hawaii Pacific Ocean record by more than a day and, add this to their already impressive collection of records.
Mari-Cha IV set sail from the St. Francis Yacht Club, San Francisco, at 22:30 UTC on Friday 2nd July and completed her 2,070 nautical mile crossing in 5 days, 5 hours, 43 minutes and 30 seconds*, beating the existing record by more than 32 hours and becoming the first monohull ever to complete the West Coast - Hawaii Pacific Ocean record in under six days. The previous record, held by Roy Disney’s Pyewacket, stood at 6 days, 14 hours, 22 minutes and 20 seconds and was set in 1998.
The Mari-Cha IV team first made sailing history last October when they shattered two of world sailing's most historic and prestigious records – the west to east transatlantic record and the 24 hour distance record. Since then they have added the Guadeloupe to Antigua record and now the latest addition – the West Coast - Hawaii Pacific Ocean record.
Robert Miller, speaking from onboard Mari-Cha IV, said:
"It is an incredible feeling knowing that Mari-Cha IV continues to establish itself as the fastest offshore monohull in history. I would like to thank all of the 23 crew members on-board and everyone involved in designing and building this magnificent yacht - I can’t stress enough that the whole project really is a tremendous team effort. For now, we are just looking forward to the welcome when we dock in Kaneohe Bay, but we have an intensive sailing schedule ahead of us this year, hopefully including an attempt to become the first monohull to sail around the world in under 80 days."
* Record to be ratified by the West Marine Pacific Cup race organisers.