When Charles Caudrelier took line honours in the Route du Rhum single handed race across the Atlantic aboard Maxi Edmond de Rothschild, Gitana 17 he had also set a new race record.

Meanwhile, on the vast salt flats of Lake Gairdner, South Australia, the Kiwi America’s Cup team were still hoping they could break a record too – on land. And a few days later they did.

Both were impressive achievements and both get the full treatment in this episode of OnCourse. Plus, we take a close look under the hood in the America’s Cup to see how teams are working on their campaigns and how the inter-team argy bargy has started already.

We also get aboard the Farr X2 an exciting new 30ft pocket rocket designed for shorthanded and a new style of fully crewed racing. But this is also a boat that got plenty of attention for all the wrong reasons earlier this year when the first boat lost its keel. We find out the latest.

And as always there’s plenty in Docktalk including the link between a Soviet monster and hydrofoils.

Episode 23 Content and links:

00:34 Route du Rhum report
09:36 Docktalk – Part 1
14:06 New land speed record
16:42 America’s Cup news
21:33 AC40 – Would you be up for it?
37:36 Docktalk – Part 2
40:47 Farr X2 on test

Note: Interior and deck tour to follow shortly.

Watch more at www.youtube.com/c/planetsailonline

by Matt Sheahan