Squid and the record breaking of MACIF in 2017

Sunday 17th December, French sailor Francois Gabart has broken the record for sailing around the world alone, circumnavigating the planet in just 42 days and 16 hours on his trimaran MACIF.

Guillaume Combescure, Antoine Gautier and Emilien Lavigne from the routing team explain how Squid has been a fundamental tool in this adventure:

"During the preparation of the record, Squid and Great Circle have been very useful in statistics. By analysing the data, we have been able to simulate the trimaran MACIF around the world for the last 10 years. We have been able to understand better the physiognomy of a circumnavigation, the racing times, the probabilities of success...

During the record, Squid has been a fundamental tool for weather forecast. The software enables to download GRIB files from different models as well as satellite photos and models measured by scatterometry.

The overlay of these different data allowed us to confront the weather forecast and real-time satellite observations.

We also could follow the boat thanks to Squid. It enabled the router to precisely locate the boat online in the weather system in which François was coming across, and therefore to give the best briefing possible on the upcoming conditions. Crucial for the transition zones."