Transatlantic Speed Record

I am confused about the definition of the Transatlantic speed record.
According to the World Sailing Speed Record Council
(sailspeedrecords.com), the Mari-Cha IV set a Transatlantic record of 6
days 17 hours in October 2003. But last month they set another
Transatlantic record of 9 days 15 hours, breaking the longstanding
12-day record set in 1905 by the 185-foot Atlantic. What is the
difference between the two Mari-Cha records? It appears that there is
perhaps a distinction between a "passage record" and a "crewed record",
but I cannot find any such terminology in the WSSRC rules. Can somebody
please shed some light on this?

Regards,

Jeff Rodriguez
San Diego, California

Jeff Rodriguez wrote:
> I am confused about the definition of the Transatlantic speed record.

The transatlantic record was done on Mari-Cha IV's (M-C4) schedule.
They waited until the weather looked like it was as good as it was going
to get.

The second record was set as part of a race. The organizers picked the
time of the start. The race may have imposed some rules (maximum sails
on board, etc.) that the first record try would not have had.

Hope this helps,

tom
of the Sweetwater Sea