VOA常速英语:French Sailor Sets New World Record in Solo Sailing

Huge crowds gathered at the French port of Brest on Sunday to welcome the record-breaking sailor Francois Gabart burned flares and popped a bottle of champagne on arrival to the port.The 34-year-old sailor said he did not expect to beat the previous record by such a large margin.
一众拥挤的人群星期日聚集在布雷斯特法国港口迎接破纪录的航海家弗朗索瓦加巴，他点燃了众人的激情，在他到达港口时还开了香槟庆祝。这位34岁的水手说他没想到会以如此大的差距打破上一个记录。

I wasn’t expecting that honestly, I was hoping to break the record by a slim margin but I could never have imagined to beat it by so much.
坦白的说，我真没想到，我以为能以微弱的差距打破记录，但我从来没有想到能超过记录这么多。

Gabart said some of his victory is due to sheer luck such as the date he set out and the favourable condition at crucial points at sea.But his teammates affectionately called him excel spreadsheet because of his careful planning.They believed that his precise calculations helped him slash the around the world record by six days and ten hours.The previous record was set by another Frenchman Thomas Coville who says modern technology helps make sailing faster.
加巴说他的胜利是由于运气，比如他选择出发日期和海上的良好的状态有关。但他的队友亲切地称他为Excel电子表格，因为他规划得很精心。他们相信是他的精确计算帮助他把世界纪录缩短了六天十小时。此前的纪录是由另一个法国人托马斯维尔保持，他说是现代科技加快了航行速度。

Sailing is almost becoming a societal marker of technology that helps us to go further, faster.Sailing around the planet alone even ten years ago it wasn’t even in the realm of imaginable and today we’re thinking well, we’re gonna go down in 40 days.
航海几乎成了科技发展的社会标志，它助我们走得更远更快。哪怕十年前，独自航海周游世界，人们根本连想都不敢想，可今天我们就能轻描淡写地说，来个40天吧。

Non-stop solo sailing around the globe has seen huge leaps in the past decade.In 2004, French sailor Francis Joyon completed the circumnavigation in less than 73 days.The following year, British female sailor Ellen MacArthur cut the time by a day and a half.Last year Coville set a new record of 49 days and three hours.Gabart completed his navigation Sunday after sailing non-stop for 42 days 16 hours 40 minutes and 35 seconds on his first attempt.
在过去的十年里，全球范围内不间断的单人航行已经取得了巨大的飞跃。2004年法国航海家弗兰西斯茹瓦永在不到73天的时间完成了环球航行。第二年，英国女航海家艾伦麦克阿瑟将时间缩短了一天半。去年，维尔创造了49天三小时的新纪录。而如今加巴在他的第一次尝试中，在周日以42天16小时40分钟35秒完成了他的环球历险。

Zlatica Hoke, VOA News, Washington.
美国之音，Zlatica Hoke华盛顿报道。