Rolex Transatlantic Challenge 2005 ready to begin - can the transatlantic record stand for a century?

May 21, 2005 The Rolex Transatlantic Challenge 2005 promises to be one of the greatest sailing races of all time when it gets underway tomorrow after a delayed start due to forecast dangerous weather. When the starts gun fires tomorrow, 20 entrants ranging in size from 70 to 252 feet (21.3m to 77m) will set out on a course from New York for England, recreating the Great Ocean Race of 1905. In that race, the schooner Atlantic, skippered by three-time America's Cup defender Charlie Barr, set a record that has not been broken by a monohull since. Monohull yachts have crossed the Atlantic Ocean faster, but they picked their weather. Atlantic's crossing, in 12 days, four hours, one minute and 19 seconds, survives as the oldest race record in sailing - and despite all the remarkable advances in sailing since then, it might stand for a full century!

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