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 homologated single-handed or crewed, on monohulls or on multihulls.It is homologated, since 1972, by the WSSRC[1]
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 .
| Time | Yacht | Skipper | Crew | Date | Average speed | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 12d 04h 01m 19s |  Atlantic | 1905 | 10.2kn | ||||
| 10d 05h 14m 20s [Multihull] |  Paul Ricard (trimaran) | Éric Tabarly | Éric Bourhis, Georges Calvé, Dominique Pipat | 1980 | 12.15kn | ||
| 9d 10h 06m 34s | Elf Aquitaine | 1981 | 13.18kn | ||||
| 08d 16h 36m | Jet Services 2 | Jean Le Cam, Marc Guillemot, (Serge Madec) | 1984 | 14.29kn | |||
| 07d 21h 05m 42s | Royale 2 | 1985 | 15.76kn | ||||
| 07d 12h 49m 34s | Fleury Michon VIII | 1987 | 16.48kn | ||||
| 07d 06h 32m | Jet Service V | Marc Guillemot | 1988 | 17.07kn | |||
| 6d 13h 03m 32s | Jet Service V | 1990 | 18.97kn | ||||
| 6d 17h 52m 39s | Mari-Cha IV[3] | Robert Miller | 2003 | ||||
| 4d 17h 28m 6s [Catamaran] | PlayStation | , Ben Wright, Dave Scully, Gino Morrelli, Peter Hogg, Shaun Biddulph, Dave Calvert, Paul Van Dyke, David Weir | 2001 | 26.26kn | |||
| 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 | 28.54kn | |||
| 4d 03h 57m 54s | Groupama 3 | , , , , , , , , | 2007 | 29.81kn | |||
| 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 Revil | 2009 | 32.94kn | |||
| Monohull | |||||||
| 5d 14h 21min 25s | Comanche (fastest monohull[4]) | , , , , , , Chris Maxted, Jon von Schwarz, Juggy Clougher, Julien Cressant, Nick Dana,, Pepe Ribes, Peter van Niekerk, Phil Harmer, Richard Clarke | 2016 | 21.44kn | |||
| Time | Yacht | Skipper | Date | Average speed | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 11d 11h 46m 36s | Explorer | 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 | 17.47kn | |
| 6d 04h 01m 37s | IDEC | Francis Joyon | 6 July 2005 | 19.75kn | |
| 5d 19h 29m 20s | Sodebo | Thomas Coville | 15 July 2008 | 24.72kn | |
| 5d 02h 56m 10s | IDEC 2 | Francis Joyon | 16 June 2013 | 27.47kn | |
| 5d 02h 07m | IDEC Sport | Francis Joyon | 13 July 2017 | 27.65kn | |
| 4d 11h 10m 23s | Sodebo Ultim | Thomas Coville | 15 July 2017 | 28.35kn |
This crossing is made between Cadiz and San Salvador Island, for a distance of 3884nmi. It was also called Route of the discovery in honor of Christopher Columbus and his 1492 crossing.
| Time | Date | Boat | Boat Type | Crew | Notes | Ref. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Outright | |||||||
| 12d 12h 30m 27s | 1988 | Jet Service V | Skipper -, , , , | 14.91kn | |||
| 10d 14h 53m 44s | 2000 |  Club Med | Skipper -, Franck Proffit, | 17.58kn | |||
| 9d 13h 30m 18s | 2003 | 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 | 16.92kn | |||
| 7d 10h 58min 53s | 2007 | Groupama 3 | Skipper -, , , Pascal Blouin, Loic Le Mignon, Bruno Jeanjean, Sébastien Audigane, Frédéric Le Peutrec, Ronan Le Goff, | 21.7kn | |||
| 6d 14h 29m 21s | 2013 | Spindrift 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 | 24.5kn | |||
| Singlehanded | |||||||
| 6d 23h 42m 18s | Jan 14 | Banque Populaire VII | 23.16kn | ||||
| 8d 16h 07m 05s | 2013-02-15 | IDEC 2 | 18.66kn | ||||
| 9d 20h 32m 23s | 2008-11-07 | IDEC 2 | 16.42kn | ||||
| 10d 11h 50m 46s | 2005-07-08 | "Sodebo" | 15.42kn | ||||
| 11d 3h 17m 20s | Nov 04 | "Idec" | 14.53kn | ||||
| Monohull. Initial benchmark time | |||||||
| 10d 23h 9m 39s | Feb 11 | "Maserati" | Giovanni Soldini ITA | ||||
| 60 ft. Initial benchmark time | |||||||
| 11d 08h 55m 29s | Mar 19 | "Arkea Paprec" | Simon Sebastien FRA | ||||
| 40 foot. Initial benchmark time | |||||||
| 21d 11h 18m 25s | Mar 15 | "Extreme Sail Academy" | Sergio Frattaruolo ITA | ||||
2,870 nautical miles
| Time | Date | Boat | Boat Type | Crew | Notes | Ref. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Outright | |||||||
| 5d 11h 57m 17s | May 16 | Phaedo 3 | Lloyd Thornburg USA | ||||
| 14d 06h 12m 50s | Aug 04 | "Mollymawk" | Ross Hobson GBR | ||||
| Monohull | |||||||
| 13d 05h 19m 38s | June 17 | Talanta | Mikael Ryking/Irina Gracheva SWE/RUS | ||||
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 | ||||
2,800 nautical miles
| Time | Date | Boat | Boat Type | Crew | Notes | Ref. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Outright | |||||||
| 9d 08h 05m 20s | Jun 94 | "Primagaz" | Laurent Bourgnon FRA | ||||
| Singlehanded | |||||||
| 9d 23h 54m 36s | Jun 00 | "Eure et Loire" | Francis Joyon FRA | ||||
| Female | |||||||
| 14d 23h 11m | Jun 00 | "Kingfisher" | Ellen MacArthur GBR | ||||
| Monohull | |||||||
| 13d 12h 47m | Jun 12 | "Vento Di Sardegna" | Andrea Mura ITA | ||||