And he's off

Francis Joyon sets sail on singlehanded W-E north Atlantic record attempt

Having left New York this afternoon in order to get to the Ambrose light, Francis Joyon crossed the starting line of the W to E Transatlantic record at 19:03:36GMT (15:03:36' local time).

The giant IDEC trimaran set off at more than 15 knots, and the French skipper hoped to catch a more solid breeze further away from the coast.

To beat Laurent Bourgnon's record, IDEC has to reach the Lizard (GB) before 2 June at 21:37:16GMT.