Chicago’s Steve Fossett Ends Speed Sailing Program After Spectacular 11 Year Career
Focus now on aviation . . . Cheyenne to be sold

 

April 22, 2004- Carmel, CA, USA: Two weeks after returning from his successful Round The World Sailing world record at the helm of his 125' maxi-catamaran Cheyenne, American skipper Steve Fossett announced today that he has decided to pull back from front line international speed sailing - after 11 years of spectacular record success - in order to focus on key 2004-2005 projects in aviation (altitude, speed and distance gliding plus the round the world solo airplane) as well as other new (as yet undisclosed) sporting projects on land and in the air. Cheyenne will be put up for sale.
"The round the world record has fulfilled my highest ambition in sailing," admitted Fossett Tuesday "and this just seems like the right time to stop."
His focused and committed approach has made him the greatest record-setter in the history of speed sailing with over two dozen total world and race records set. And 13 of the 22 current records listed as 'outright' in the World Sailing Speed Record Council (WSSRC) record book (www.sailspeedrecords.com) are held by Fossett - including the amazing new RTW at 58 days 9 hours on the 125' maxi-cat Cheyenne - and the 2001 New York - UK TransAtlantic rocket ride of 4 days 17 hours (aboard the same boat, then known as PlayStation).
"It has been an exciting - and very fulfilling - 11 years. In the past we've defended our records by re-taking 4 of them when broken: the 24 Hours (twice), Round Britain & Ireland, and Isle of Wight - but I don't want to make a program of that. My mind is on aviation projects right now. I should sell Cheyenne to someone who wants to do the Oryx Cup RTW Race - or maybe even try to break some of our records."
Some Comparisons, Facts Tell The Story

 

 

 

 

 



Steve Fossett sailing record:
Current holder of 13 Outright World Records plus 2 Singlehanded Records
Current holder of 9 major distance race records.
Records were set on 3 boats:
PlayStation 1998-2000 105'
PlayStation / Cheyenne 2001-2004 125' catamaran
Lakota 60' trimaran
Stars & Stripes 60' catamaran                                                                                                                                                                           Only 7 of his records have ever been broken.

By comparison:
Bruno Peyron holds 2 Outright records:
Transpac Race Course and Pacific Ocean
Brian Thompson, Adrienne Cahalan & Helena Darvelid jointly hold 3
Outright records: 24 Hour, Antigua-Newport, Cowes-St. Malo
No Other Competitor Holds more than One Outright World Record
13 Outright World Records:
Round the World 58d 9h 32m 45s Feb-April 2004
TransAtlantic 4d 17h 28m 6s(25.78 kts) Oct 2001
Round Britain & Ireland 4d 16h 9m 36s Oct 2002
TransAt-Discovery Route 9d 13h 30m 18s Feb 2003
TransMed (Marseilles-Carthage) 18h 46m 48s May 2002
Fastnet Course 35h 17m 14s Mar 2002
Newport-Bermuda 1d 14h 35m 53s Jan 2000
Isle of Wight 2h 33m 55s Nov 2001
Round Ireland 44h 42m 20s Sep 1993
Hawaii-Japan 13d 20h 9m July-Aug 1995
Pacific Ocean East to West 16d 17h 21m Aug 1995
Miami-New York 2d 5h 54m 42s May 2001
Plymouth-LaRochelle 16h 41m 40s Apr 2002
2 Singlehanded World Records:
Pacific Ocean(Yokohama-SF) 20d 9h 52m Aug 1996
Newport-Bermuda-World 40h 51m 54s Jun 1999

9 Race Records:
Newport-Ensenada 6h 46m 40s 18.45 kts) Apr 1998
Chicago-Mackinac 18h 50m 32s Jul 1998
Swiftsure 14h 35m 29s May 1997
Long Beach-Cabo San Lucas 3d 2h 59m Nov 1995
Pineapple Cup
Ft Lauderdale-Montego Bay 2s 20h 8m 5s Feb 1999
San Diego-Puerto Vallarta 62h 20m 11s Feb 1998
Round St. Martin (Heineken) 2h 4m 23s Mar 2003
Windjammers (SF-Santa Cruz) 4h 41m 2s Aug 1997
Singlehanded Race Record:
California-Hawaii
(Singlehanded Transpac) - Race 7d 22h 38m July 1998
 

Superceded World Records:
24 Hour Record 687.17 nm (28.63 kts) Oct 2001
24 Hour Record 580.23 nm (24.18 kts) Mar 1999
Pacific Ocean Record (Crewed) 16d 17h 21m 19s Aug 1995
Transpac 6d 16h 7m 16s July 1995
Round Britain & Ireland 5d 21h 5m 27s Oct 1994
Cowes-St. Malo 6h 21m 54s Dec 2001
Isle of Wight 3h 35m 38s Sep 1994

For more info visit: www.fossett-challenge.com