blue riband

The highest distinction in any sphere.

The Blue Riband of the Atlantic is held by the vessel making the fastest crossing without refuelling. The trophy was first presented by Harold Hales MP in 1935. The Queen Mary won it in 1938 and held the record until the SS United States created a new record of 3 dy 10 hr 31 min in 1952. Richard Branson's time of 3 dy 8hr 31 min in Virgin Atlantic Challenger in 1985 was a new record time but failed to wrest the trophy from its home at the US Maritime Museum on Long Island because he refuelled three times, which is against the conditions that must be met to win the trophy. On 27 July 1989, Tom Gentry of the USA in his craft Gentry Eagle broke the record with a time of 2 dy 14 hr 7 min. He was presented with the Blue Riband Trophy by Richard Branson. The trophy is currently held by the Danish ferry CatLink V, which won it in 1998, and records are now judged by average speed rather than time because various transatlantic routes differ in length.