Maserati Multi 70 pushes Original Fastnet Course record under 24 hours

The Maserati Multi 70 skippered by Giovanni Soldini has conquered the 595 mile Original Fastnet Course record with a time of 23 hours, 51 minutes and 16 seconds.

They crossed the finish line of the Original Fastnet Course in Plymouth on May 8th at 19:14:11 GMT (21:14:11 Italian time) recording an average speed of 24.94 knots. The previous reference time, 25 hours, 4 minutes and 18 seconds, with an average speed of 23.73 knots, was set by Peter Cunningham’s MOD70 PowerPlay only a month ago. The record is subject to the ratification by the World Sailing Speed Racing Council.

The Italian trimaran crossed the starting line off Cowes on May 7th at 19:22:55 GMT heading west. The first part in the Solent was slow, but shortly after the wind got stronger.

Soldini said: “It was tough, sailing to Lizard Point the wind was very strong. We sailed with average speeds of 34/35 knots for a few hours and it was great. From there we sailed on a beam reach to the Fastnet with 25/30 knots of wind. This morning we passed the Fastnet and while we were sailing back towards the finish line we caught some unexpected light winds, but we built up a nice advantage during the night. We’re very happy, this window was not perfect, but we wanted to try anyway and we did it!”

It’s a triple victory for Soldini and his crew, who are closing the record season in the English Channel with a rich haul. The Italian team arrived in Cherbourg, north of France, on April 11, ready to set sail whenever ideal weather windows arrived and, in just four weeks, they were able to conquer all three records they had their eyes on: from Plymouth to La Rochelle (12 hours, 15 minutes, 21 seconds), from Cowes to Dinard (4 hours, 30 minutes, 49 seconds), and the Original Fastnet Course (23 hours, 51 minutes, 16 seconds).

For this record, aboard the trimaran alongside Giovanni Soldini were Guido Broggi, Carlos Hernandez Robayna, Oliver Herrera Perez, Gerardo Siciliano and Matteo Soldini.

With three new records, Maserati Multi 70 is proving herself as a “laboratory boat” devoted to innovation, on which the engineers from the Maserati Innovation Lab of Modena work hand in hand with Giovanni Soldini’s team to closely analyse the trimaran’s performances to find avant-garde solutions to reach even higher speeds. Soldini commented: “We took advantage of this record attempt to test a new rudder that we studied and developed in the past few months, and it turned out to be fantastic!”

by Negri Firman