Fossett hangs up his stopwatch

Record breaking skipper to focus on new aviation and land based challenges

Two weeks after returning from his successful Round The World Sailing world record at the helm of his 125' maxi-catamaran Cheyenne, American skipper Steve Fossett announced today that he has decided to pull back from front line international speed sailing - after 11 years of spectacular record success - in order to focus on key 2004-2005 projects in aviation (altitude, speed and distance gliding plus the round the world solo airplane) as well as other new (as yet undisclosed) sporting projects on land and in the air. Cheyenne will be put up for sale.

"The round the world record has fulfilled my highest ambition in sailing" admitted Fossett Tuesday "and this just seems like the right time to stop.'"

His focused and committed approach has made him the greatest record-setter in the history of speed sailing with over two dozen total world and race records set. And 13 of the 22 current records listed as 'outright' in the World Sailing Speed Record Council (WSSRC) record book are held by Fossett - including the amazing new RTW at 58 days 9 hours on the 125' maxi-cat Cheyenne - and the 2001 New York - UK TransAtlantic rocket ride of 4 days 17 hours (aboard the same boat, then known as PlayStation).

"It has been an exciting - and very fulfilling - 11 years. In the past we've defended our records by re-taking 4 of them when broken: the 24 Hours (twice), Round Britain & Ireland, and Isle of Wight - but I don't want to make a program of that. My mind is on aviation projects right now. I should sell Cheyenne to someone who wants to do the Oryx Cup RTW Race - or maybe even try to break some of our records."

Steve Fossett's Sailing Records

13 Outright World Records:

Round the World                  58d 9h 32m 45s                 Feb-April 2004
TransAtlantic                         4d 17h 28m 6s(25.78 kts)  Oct 2001
Round Britain & Ireland             4d 16h 9m 36s                 Oct 2002
TransAt-Discovery Route           9d 13h 30m 18s               Feb 2003
TransMed (Marseilles-Carthage) 18h 46m 48s                    May 2002
Fastnet Course                    35h 17m 14s                       Mar 2002
Newport-Bermuda                 1d 14h 35m 53s                  Jan 2000
Isle of Wight                          2h 33m 55s                        Nov 2001
Round Ireland                        44h 42m 20s                       Sep 1993
Hawaii-Japan                        13d 20h 9m                         July-Aug 1995
Pacific Ocean East to West  16d 17h 21m                    Aug 1995       
Miami-New York                    2d 5h 54m 42s                    May 2001           
Plymouth-LaRochelle            16h 41m 40s                        Apr 2002

2 Singlehanded World Records:

Pacific Ocean (Yokohama-SF)-World   20d 9h 52m            Aug 1996
Newport-Bermuda-World                    40h 51m 54s           Jun 1999

9 Race Records:

Newport-Ensenada                      6h 46m 40s 18.45 kts)    Apr 1998
Chicago-Mackinac                       18h 50m 32s                 Jul 1998
Swiftsure                                     14h 35m 29s                 May 1997
Long Beach-Cabo San Lucas        3d 2h 59m                    Nov 1995
Pineapple Cup (Ft Lauderdale-Montego Bay) 2s 20h 8m 5s  Feb 1999
San Diego-Puerto Vallarta             62h 20m 11s                Feb 1998
Round St. Martin (Heineken)          2h 4m 23s                   Mar 2003
Windjammers (SF-Santa Cruz)       4h 41m 2s                   Aug 1997

Singlehanded Race Record:

California-Hawaii
(Singlehanded Transpac) - Race     7d 22h 38m                 July 1998

Superceded World Records:
24 Hour Record                    687.17 nm (28.63 kts)     Oct 2001
24 Hour Record                    580.23 nm (24.18 kts)     Mar 1999
Pacific Ocean Record (Crewed)  16d 17h 21m 19s       Aug 1995
Transpac                             6d 16h 7m 16s               July 1995
Round Britain & Ireland         5d 21h 5m 27s               Oct 1994
Cowes-St. Malo                    6h 21m 54s                    Dec 2001
Isle of Wight                         3h 35m 38s                    Sep 1994