Gitana 13 is entering the final stages of her attempt on the Route d’Or record (fully crewed from New York to San Francisco).

In her fifth week at sea, the maxi-catamaran has finally left the doldrums behind her. Having set out from New York on 16th January, they are currently positioned less than 2, 000 miles from the final destination of San Francisco, after 35 days sailing. However, these last few miles are likely to cause the men no end of trouble.

In the next few hours the ten sailors will encounter moderate Northerly headwinds – a point of sail which is not the 33 metre catamaran’s best: “Our last few miles upwind will be very uncomfortable both for the boat and for the men. And the perspective of over 1,500 miles in a headwind is slightly clouding the joy of the imminent finish” announced the skipper of Gitana 13 before concluding: “On this record, we really haven’t had much of an opportunity to slip along, apart from on the first quarter of the course as far as the equator. We’ve either had the wind three quarters aft, forced to make some tack changes, or we’ve been upwind, which is a long way off Gitana 13’s preferred point of sail!”

More information – history of the race and position updates here