Transpac: COMANCHE sets 24-hour record; will overall mark also fall?
HONOLULU – Not surprisingly, Jim Clark’s COMANCHE is on record watch in the Transpac. As in, possibly the whole enchilada for a monohull. COMANCHE set the Transpac 24-hour record for a monohull with a run of 484.1 nautical miles, an average of 20.2 knots, as reported on the roll call this morning. The previous record of 431nm was set by ALFA ROMEO II in 2009, when it also set the monohull course record of 5 days, 14 hours, 36 minutes, 20 seconds.
Skippered by Ken Read, COMANCHE needs to finish by 12:36:19 a.m Honolulu time on Wednesday to break that record. Clark’s 100-footer was built to break records, so stay tuned. Coincidentally, COMANCHE navigator and overall good guy Stan Honey is looking to break a record he helped establish, as he was also the navigator aboard ALFA ROMEO II in 2009.
Honey has said the key to setting records is not necessarily having a windy race but just having the wind be consistent and from a favorable direction.
Jim Clark's COMANCHE shortly after Thursday's start off of LA's Pt Fermin. Photo courtesy of Tami Rae.