Since the five-week voyage of Christopher Columbus in 1492, quickly and safely crossing the Atlantic Ocean between Europe and the Americas has always been an important issue. Today, the route has become a classic one among skippers. The record is one of the most prestigious, next to the Jules Verne Trophy, for which it is often a good preparation.

This record can be achieved both ways: from west to east or from east to west. It can also be done single-handed or crewed, on monohulls or on multihulls. Since 1972, the official record has been handed out by the WSSRC

From west to east

This route is the fastest, as it follows the prevailing westerlies. It is the one that meets the most interest among skippers. The crossing must be made from Ambrose Light of New York to an imaginary line linking Lizard Point, Cornwall to Ushant. The distance is around .

Crewed

Time Yacht Skipper Crew Date Average speed 12d 04h 01m 19s Atlantic Charlie Barr 1905 10d 05h 14m 20s [Multihull] Paul Ricard (trimaran) Éric Tabarly Éric Bourhis, Georges Calvé, Dominique Pipat1980 9d 10h 06m 34s Elf Aquitaine Marc Pajot 1981 08d 16h 36m Jet Services 2 Patrick Morvan Jean Le Cam, Marc Guillemot, (Serge Madec)1984 07d 21h 05m 42s Royale 2 Loïc Caradec 1985 07d 12h 49m 34s Fleury Michon VIII Philippe Poupon 1987 07d 06h 32m Jet Service V Serge Madec Marc Guillemot1988 6d 13h 03m 32s Jet Service V Serge Madec 1990 6d 17h 52m 39sMari-Cha IVRobert Miller2003 4d 17h 28m 6s [Catamaran] PlayStation ,Ben Wright, Dave Scully, Gino Morrelli, Peter Hogg, Shaun Biddulph, Dave Calvert, Paul Van Dyke, David Weir 2001 4d 08h 23m 54s Orange II ,,Ludovic Aglaor, Florent Chastel, Pascal Bidégorry,,Ronan Le Goff, Jean-Baptiste Epron, Yann Guichard, Clément Surtel, Jean-Baptiste Le Vaillant 2006 4d 03h 57m 54s Groupama 3 ,,,,,,,, 2007 3d 15h 25min 48s Banque Populaire V (fastest multihull) ,,,,Sébastien Audigane, Florent Chastel, Jean-Baptiste Le Vaillant, Emmanuel Le Borgne, Marcel Van Triest, Pierre-Yves Moreau, Xavier Revil2009 Monohull 5d 14h 21min 25s Comanche (fastest monohull) ,,,, , , Chris Maxted, Jon von Schwarz, Juggy Clougher, Julien Cressant, Nick Dana, , Pepe Ribes, Peter van Niekerk, Phil Harmer, Richard Clarke2016

Single-handed

Time Yacht Skipper Date Average speed 11d 11h 46m 36s Explorer Bruno Peyron 1987 9d 21h 42m Pierre 1er Florence Arthaud 1990 9d 19h 22m Explorer Bruno Peyron July 1992 7d 02h 34m 42s Primagaz Laurent Bourgnon June 1994 6d 04h 01m 37s IDEC Francis Joyon 6 July 2005 5d 19h 29m 20s Sodebo Thomas Coville 15 July 2008 5d 02h 56m 10s IDEC 2 Francis Joyon 16 June 2013 5d 02h 07m IDEC Sport Francis Joyon 13 July 2017 4d 11h 10m 23s Sodebo Ultim Thomas Coville 15 July 2017

From east to west This crossing is made between Cádiz and San Salvador Island, for a distance of . It was also called Route of the discovery in honor of Christopher Columbus and his 1492 crossing.

Crewed Time Date Boat Boat Type Crew Notes Ref.Outright12d 12h 30m 27s 1988 Jet Service V Skipper - , , , , 10d 14h 53m 44s 2000 Club Med Skipper - , Franck Proffit, 9d 13h 30m 18s2003 PlayStation Skipper - , Dave Scully, Pete Melvin, , Peter Hogg, Mark Featherstone, Dave Calvert, Mikaela Von Koskull, Will Howden, Tim Zimmermann, Nick Leggatt, Simon Fisher, Dave Thomson 7d 10h 58min 53s2007 Groupama 3 Skipper - ,,, Pascal Blouin, Loic Le Mignon, Bruno Jeanjean, Sébastien Audigane, Frédéric Le Peutrec, Ronan Le Goff, 6d 14h 29m 21s 2013Spindrift 2 Skipper - Co-Skipper - Xavier Revil, Jean Baptiste Le Vaillant, Antoine Carraz, Thierry Douillard, Christophe Espagnon, Sébastien Marsset, Nicolas Texier, Erwan Tabarly, François Morvan, Thomas Rouxel, Simone Gaeta, Erwan Israel Singlehanded 6d 23h 42m 18s Jan 14Banque Populaire VII 8d 16h 07m 05s 2013-02-15IDEC 2 9d 20h 32m 23s 2008-11-07IDEC 2 10d 11h 50m 46s 2005-07-08"Sodebo" 11d 3h 17m 20s Nov 04"Idec" Multi 70 trimaran 10d 23h 9m 39s Feb 11"Maserati" Giovanni Soldini ITA 60 ft. Monohull 11d 08h 55m 29s Mar 19"Arkea Paprec" Simon Sebastien FRA 40 ft. Monohull 18d 22h 27m 28s 12 Apr 2026"Waypoint" ,, . 21d 11h 18m 25s 19 Mar 2015 "Calaluna" ,,,,.

Bermuda to Plymouth 2,870 nautical miles Time Date Boat Boat Type Crew Notes Ref.Outright 5d 11h 57m 17s May 16Phaedo 3 Lloyd Thornburg USA 14d 06h 12m 50s Aug 04 "Mollymawk" Ross Hobson GBR Monohull 13d 05h 19m 38s June 17Talanta Mikael Ryking/Irina Gracheva SWE/RUS

Dakar to Guadeloupe 2,551 nautical miles Time Date Boat Boat Type Crew Notes Ref.Open 20ft 11d 01h 09m 30s Apr 17 Feel Good Vittorio and Nico Malingri ITA 11d 11h 25m 42s Dec 07 Ocean Express Lequin/Moreau FRA

Plymouth to Newport 2,800 nautical miles

Time Date Boat Boat Type Crew Notes Ref.Outright 9d 08h 05m 20s Jun 94"Primagaz" Laurent Bourgnon FRA Singlehanded9d 23h 54m 36s Jun 00"Eure et Loire" Francis Joyon FRA Female14d 23h 11m Jun 00"Kingfisher" Ellen MacArthur GBR Monohull 13d 12h 47m Jun 12 "Vento Di Sardegna" Andrea Mura ITA

Notes and references

See also Blue Riband Passage sailing record Single-Handed Trans-Atlantic Race Speed sailing record Transatlantic crossing World Sailing Speed Record Council