Lionel Lemonchois

Hong Kong - Lionel Lemonchois and the crew of Gitana 13 have cast off the docklines for yet another record attempt. This time, it's the old clipper route from Hong Kong to London known as the "tea route," a 14,000+ mile marathon that will give the crew a chance to think of days of old as they cover the same shipping route that connected East and West for centuries. It looks as though Gitana 13 is the first Maxi (certainly of its class) to attempt this record, currently held since 1990 by Philippe Monnet.

Lionel Lemonchois hours after beating the world sailing record San Francisco to Yokohama on Gitana 13

11 days 12 minutes 55 seconds, what do you think of your new time?
“It’s a great time and we’re really happy. Given the weather conditions before we set out, I told myself that if we did it in 12 days it would be a good performance already. And, to look at our average speed over the actual distance covered is very honourable.”