Skipper Olivier de Kersauson says: “To win, you have to finish, and that’s our job”

At 13:21:23 GMT yesterday, the crew of 110ft trimaran Geronimo completed the 4,482 nautical miles from San Francisco to Yokohama in a new record time of 14 days, 22 hours, 40 minutes and 41 seconds.

It has been a tough haul for the crew having to sail through fickle winds. Geronimo actually travelled 5,600 miles because of the fierce weather conditions. Skipper Olivier de Kersauson exclaimed: “The last 1000 miles were incredibly violent.”

He said: “The crossing was magnificent. Everything was excessive, with the weather changing and shifting around at a mad pace: it was exhausting and exhilarating, except for the final section?”

The variable and demanding conditions meant the trimaran had to go as fast as possible by the shortest route without much chance of applying a strategy.

Despite the obstacles, Geronimo has beaten two records: the San Francisco-Yokohama record course, beating Steve Fossett’s record by 4 days, 16 hours, 37 minutes and 28 seconds; and a new record for the passage from Hawaii to Yokohama, which was also previously held by the US sailor.

Olivier de Kersauson said: “One thing for sure is that since her last major record attempt, Geronimo has become a boat capable of successfully confronting all kinds of conditions.”

“Together with Capgemini and Schneider Electric, we were the first to build a trimaran of this size. Our attitude hasn’t changed one bit: we try new things, but we tend to sail in the traditional way. For us, capsizes and breakages are failures. To win, you have to finish, and that’s our job. And the crew shares this attitude? even the new members, like our incredibly polite Japanese friend, who has worked extremely hard and given a lot to Geronimo.”

Steve Fossett, holder of the record since 1996, sent his congratulations via email to the Geronimo skipper, Olivier de Kersauson. Fossett completed the Pacific ocean passage from east to west in 19 days, 15 hours, 18 minutes, 9 seconds in May 1996.