After a brief delay to repair a GPS problem, the Fabio Buzzi-designed FB80 Bohinc Record! is now well into her attempt to break the Round Britain record
Hannes Bohinc’s FB80 Record! is now well into her attempt to break the Round Britain record, recently set at 39h 50m by Peter Dredge and Ian Sanderson in their 38ft production Sunseeker XS2000. Record! started from Poole at 0500 as scheduled, but was forced to turn back after three minutes with a GPS problem.
With designer and powerboat guru Fabio Buzzi onboard, Record! restarted at 0712.30 this morning, according to timekeeper Peter Dredge. Skipper Simon Powell and navigator Dag Pike have planned just the one fuel stop, halfway round the track at Scrabstar on Scotland’s north coast, where Record! will take on 22,000lts of diesel weighing 16 tonnes.
The 41-year-old Austrian casino magnate Hannes Bohinc and his team must arrive back at Poole before 2302.30 tomorrow to claim the overall circumnavigation record. With their four 12-cylinder 1,500hp 2000-series MTU diesels running through ZF two-speed gearboxes to Trimax surface drives, they expect to be back in Poole at lunchtime tomorrow.
If they were to arrive at 1300 tomorrow, they would have completed the 1,440nm course in just under 30 hours at an average of 48kts, knocking nine hours, or 25%, off the record. Dredge and Sanderson’s record would still stand, having been set in the 30-50ft boat bracket, but Record! will have blown the previous record away and set a phenomenal benchmark that could stand for some years.
Bohinc Record! has already broken the Round Italy Record (Trieste – Monte Carlo) and the Monaco – London record. The latter, set at the beginning of August, was achieved in 64h 44m at an average of 33 knots.
As well as the two records achieved so far, Bohinc intends to take on the Miami – New York record (948nm) held by Gentry Eagle; the Round The World record (24,382nm) held by Cable & Wireless Adventurer. Next year, Bohinc Record! will attempt the Transat record (2,940nm) currently held by hi-speed ferry Cat-Link V.
More later…
