I was blown away by Lloyd Thornburg’s blisteringly fast MOD 70 trimaran Phaedo³ after spending several days with the team in Newport before the start of the Transatlantic Race (click here to track the whole fleet in real-time). And now that they’re on track to finish the race with the fastest elapsed time, (in spite of being totally becalmed—like 0.7 knots of boatspeed becalmed—for two days!), I’m pretty much speechless.
Since they worked their way through that huge lull just south of the Canadian Maritimes, they’ve averaged speeds in the high 20’s (with their highest top speed being just over 41 knots) and have smoked past a good number of boats that started a full week before them.
Now I’m back with the team in the UK, and we’re getting ready to jump in the helicopter (pictured above) so we capture the moment of the boys finishing off The Lizard. They’re due in later today, but in the meantime, check out this vid I shot with crew member Sam Goodchild when we were in Newport. He gave me an insider’s view of what Phaedo³ is like down below. And as you can see, this stripped-down raceboat gives a whole new meaning to lean-and-mean. Pretty comfy, right?
So come along for the ride. I’ll be posting some quick little vids from the helicopter later today. Then we’ll be racing the boat (in the car) so we can be there to meet them when they arrive in Cowes (that of course will be in the middle of the night).
Stay tuned.
