Catamaran faces Atlantic test

Team Philips sets sail for New York

The Team Philips catamaran is back on the ocean waves six months after the bow of the £4m vessel snapped during trials.

Skipper Pete Goss said it was "judgement day" for the 120ft-long boat as he set sail from Dartmouth, in Devon to face the stiff test of an Atlantic crossing.

The voyage will be the last big test for Team Philips before she heads for the starting line of a round-the-world race, scheduled to begin in December.

I am going to see how much I can get out of a good boat

Pete Goss

Team Philips has undergone a £250,000 repair job at a yard in Totnes, in Devon.

Three tonnes of carbon fibre has been added to prevent the 40ft port bow from breaking again.

Mr Goss, 38, a former Royal Marine, is refusing to contemplate another return trip to the shipbuilders.

"I do not feel I am going out to see whether the bow will stay or not.

"I am going to see how much I can get out of a good boat," he said.

Royal launch

The catamaran was officially launched by the Queen in March. Just two weeks later the bow snapped during the boat's first trials near the Isles of Scilly.

There was plenty of support for the repaired vessel

All that was forgotten on Thursday as Mr Goss and his crew steamed into the English Channel accompanied by cheers from well-wishers aboard a flotilla of smaller craft

If all goes to plan they will arrive in New York harbour on 26 October.

The outward voyage promises to be relatively straightforward with the weathermen forecasting good conditions in the Atlantic.

"It's a big boat and it needs an ocean to wind up," said Mr Goss.

"We're preparing for a really hard trip back across the Atlantic, and we will be looking for depressions and winter gales."

The Race

Mr Goss intends to be in Barcelona by New Year's Eve for the start of a round the world challenge known simply as The Race.

Team Philips is one of 20 vessels skippered by some of the world's most experienced sailors, all hoping to circumnavigate the globe in fewer than 80 days.