The Record

The Mari Cha team have set their sites on smashing the three most high profile records in world sailing...

• The transatlantic west - east record... and become the first monohull to ever do it in under 8 days.

• The 24 hour speed record... and become the first monohull to ever sail over 500 miles in one day.

• The round the world record... and become the first monohull to ever sail around the world in 80 days.

The Transatlantic Record
Mari Cha IV is attempting to rewrite sailing history by becoming the first monohull ever to sail across the atlantic ocean in under 8 days. If they achieve this, the Mari-Cha team will capture what is the most historic speed record in sailing. The transatlatic speed record was first set in 1905 when the famous American, Charlie Barr sailed his yacht Atlantic from the US to the UK in 12 days, 4 hours and 1 minute. The record currently stands at eight days, 20 hours, 55 minutes and 35 seconds, held by Bernard Stamm onboard Armour Lux which was set on 1st February 2001, with an average speed of 13.7 knots.

Ambrose Lighthouse to Lizard Point
The passage is from Ambrose lighthouse (just off NY) to Lizard point (off the south west coast of England) and covers a distance of 2925 nm. Therefore, to break the 8 day barrier, Mari Cha IV would need to sail an average of 366 nm per day, and average a speed of 15.3 knots. This record is particularly important to owner and skipper, Robert Miller, as it was he who held the record before Bernard Stamm aboard his 146ft ketch, Mari Cha III. He and his crew shattered the existing record on 24th October 1998 by a whopping 2.5 days, but it has since been bettered by Stamm. The proposed assault on the transatlantic west - east record by Mari Cha IV aims to shave 21 hours off the existing time, and there is no boat or crew better qualified or more determined to take up that challenge.