Nariida sets new Record
First mooted in 1999, the Monaco to Porto Cervo Speed record ratified by ISAF/WSSRC has been established by the Wally 105 Nariida.
Knut Frostad, skipper of the yacht, describes the successful attempt: "We had already planned for a long time to go for the Monaco to Porto Cervo record, and had planned to be standby in October to leave from Monaco. We decided to try it on Thursday, October 1st, when the races in St. Tropez were cancelled for heavy forecast. Our excellent weather router Jean Yves Bernot, based in La Rochelle, gave us the "go" signal. However the forecast indicated wind over 50 knots. The direct course from Monaco to the Bonifacio straight between Corsica and Sardinia is 157 degrees, and the low pressure system arriving on Saturday October 4th would give a westerly breeze which would have been too tight for Nariida if we had over 50 knots of wind. Therefore we made a plan with Jean Yves to leave in the weakening of the low pressure, just when the wind started turning right, to give us a more open angle although we had the risk to run out of wind in the end."
"We started just before 18:00 local time on Sunday October 5th" continues Knut "and a huge thunderstorm arrived from the north giving us an easterly wind around 20 knots at the start. With rather big swell straight against us, the first 20 miles where far from ideal and pretty tough on the boat. We then came to the transition zone and had very light and shifty conditions for approximately 15 minutes before we reached the strong westerly wind.The whole night we had an amazing navigation, with the wind constantly between 28 and 42 knots, giving us a wind angle between 125 and 145. Most of the time we had a blast reacher up front, reefed mainsail and played with the mizzen and the mizzen staysails when the wind dropped. "
"The clear sky and the moonlight made the sailing one of the best I have done." explains Frostad "The waves were between 3 and 5 meters, and our average speed was 15-17 knots topping 22 knots in the surfs. In one surf we kept 18-20 knots for a long time: it was amazing to plan down a huge wave with a 105 ft ketch weighing 70 tons!"
"On the way to Bonifacio, the wind dropped and lifted to 320 degrees" concludes Knut "and we had to gybe and sail VMG down the straight with gennaker and staysail in pretty rough sea, which made us worried that the wind would have dropped completely in the last 30 miles. But we were lucky: when we rounded the north tip of Sardinia and entered into the "Death alley" to go inside the beautiful Maddalena Archipelago islands, a nice 20-30 knot north westerly filled in and we kept 12-13 knots of speed all the way to the finish."
Well done Nariida, and congratulations to everybody onboard!
ISAF/WSSR ratification:
Monaco to Porto Cervo - 185 nm - 5/6 October 2003
Nariida - Wally monohull - 105 ft
Knut Fostad NOR - skipper
Morten Bergesen NOR - owner
15 hours 25 minutes 09 seconds
11.90 kts
Now that the record has been set, we hope that many more yachts will try to break it. The record is open to any type of monohull (it is not reserved to Wally yachts)..
Knut Frostad, skipper of the yacht, describes the successful attempt: "We had already planned for a long time to go for the Monaco to Porto Cervo record, and had planned to be standby in October to leave from Monaco. We decided to try it on Thursday, October 1st, when the races in St. Tropez were cancelled for heavy forecast. Our excellent weather router Jean Yves Bernot, based in La Rochelle, gave us the "go" signal. However the forecast indicated wind over 50 knots. The direct course from Monaco to the Bonifacio straight between Corsica and Sardinia is 157 degrees, and the low pressure system arriving on Saturday October 4th would give a westerly breeze which would have been too tight for Nariida if we had over 50 knots of wind. Therefore we made a plan with Jean Yves to leave in the weakening of the low pressure, just when the wind started turning right, to give us a more open angle although we had the risk to run out of wind in the end."
"We started just before 18:00 local time on Sunday October 5th" continues Knut "and a huge thunderstorm arrived from the north giving us an easterly wind around 20 knots at the start. With rather big swell straight against us, the first 20 miles where far from ideal and pretty tough on the boat. We then came to the transition zone and had very light and shifty conditions for approximately 15 minutes before we reached the strong westerly wind.The whole night we had an amazing navigation, with the wind constantly between 28 and 42 knots, giving us a wind angle between 125 and 145. Most of the time we had a blast reacher up front, reefed mainsail and played with the mizzen and the mizzen staysails when the wind dropped. "
"The clear sky and the moonlight made the sailing one of the best I have done." explains Frostad "The waves were between 3 and 5 meters, and our average speed was 15-17 knots topping 22 knots in the surfs. In one surf we kept 18-20 knots for a long time: it was amazing to plan down a huge wave with a 105 ft ketch weighing 70 tons!"
"On the way to Bonifacio, the wind dropped and lifted to 320 degrees" concludes Knut "and we had to gybe and sail VMG down the straight with gennaker and staysail in pretty rough sea, which made us worried that the wind would have dropped completely in the last 30 miles. But we were lucky: when we rounded the north tip of Sardinia and entered into the "Death alley" to go inside the beautiful Maddalena Archipelago islands, a nice 20-30 knot north westerly filled in and we kept 12-13 knots of speed all the way to the finish."
Well done Nariida, and congratulations to everybody onboard!
ISAF/WSSR ratification:
Monaco to Porto Cervo - 185 nm - 5/6 October 2003
Nariida - Wally monohull - 105 ft
Knut Fostad NOR - skipper
Morten Bergesen NOR - owner
15 hours 25 minutes 09 seconds
11.90 kts
Now that the record has been set, we hope that many more yachts will try to break it. The record is open to any type of monohull (it is not reserved to Wally yachts)..
