LEWIS & PEYRON TO ATTEMPT MIAMI TO NEW YORK SAILING RECORD

The 86-foot catamaran Explorer, co-skippered by American Cam Lewis and Frenchman Bruno Peyron, will attempt to set a new sailing record from Miami, FL to New York City, starting on Sunday, May 30.

Explorer holds speed records across the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans and was the first boat to break the 80-day Around the World barrier when she won the Trophee Jules Verne in 1993 with Peyron skippering and Lewis as the sole American on the French crew.

Chicago’s Skip Novak, one of the best known Whitbread round-the-world skippers, will also be on the record run along with three other crew. Television cameraman and ocean racer Rick Deppe will sail on the catamaran and will shoot the voyage for TWI, the sports television production and distribution company. Interested TV stations should contact TWI for footage of the record bid.

Explorer will start from the Miami Sea Buoy off Government Cut and finish at Ambrose Light off New York Harbor. The distance is 1,100 miles. After she finishes, Explorer will dock at Chelsea Piers on Manhattan’s West Side before beginning an attempt to break the Transatlantic Record she set nine years ago. That record stands at 6 days, 13 hours 3 minutes and was set by Explorer in June, 1990 when she was named Jet Services V.

Lewis has gained approval from the World Sailing Speed Record Council (WSSRC) to establish a Miami to New York record. He is confident that Explorer will eclipse all previous times, with a voyage of three days or less. The WSSRC will formally record and ratify the Explorer voyage.

Lewis and his Team Adventure USA are currently preparing to build a 115-foot catamaran to set new records and win The Race – the no-holds-barred sailing sprint around the world to mark the beginning of the new Millennium. The Race will start from a Mediterranean port on New Year’s Eve, December 31, 2000. French sailing ace Peyron is organizing The Race (http:www.therace.org/english)