24 hour record for Joyon

First of Laurent Bourgnon's 11 year old solo records falls

Sunday afternoon, Francis Joyon on board the trimaran IDEC smashed the world record for the greatest distance covered in 24 hours by a single-handed yachtsman.

At 15H00 (GMT), the IDEC trimaran completed 543 miles over 24 hours at an average speed of 22.62 knots (pending ratification by the WSSRC).

This record had been held since June 1994 by Laurent Bourgnon on board Primagaz, which covered 540 miles in 24 hours at an average speed of 22.50 knots.

The red giant has been keeping up a quick pace since yesterday morning and may well improve on this first record in the coming hours.

Joyon set sail from New York last Thursday to attempt to beat the singlehanded Atlantic crossing record, also held by Laurent Bourgnon. To achieve this, he must reach The Lizard before 11h 16m 8 secs GMT on 7 July.

The red trimaran has covered 1432 miles since Thursday morning - at an average speed of 19 knots. Early this afternoon, Joyon reached the halfway point after a little more than three days of sailing ‘full-steam ahead’.

With some significant sail changes - going from the small to the large gennaker, then the Solent - Joyon is currently sailing in a 25 knot southwesterly wind. He is expecting the wind to ease off slightly this evening. As the wind comes around, he will be planning his first gybe to put him on direct course for The Lizard.