The venerable Breton Francis Joyon, aboard the 97-foot trimaran, IDEC2, has ticked an impressive feat: sailing 616.07 nautical miles in the 24-hour period (currently ungratified by the World Sailing Speed Record Council) extending from December 11 to December 12, 2007. This brings his pace up to a blistering 25.67 nautical miles per hour! The previous record of 610.45 nautical miles was set by Yvan Bourgnon aboard his ORMA 60 tri Brossard on August 6, 2006

Joyon is currently on a solo round-the-world attempt, where he hopes to best Dame Ellen MacArthur’s 2005 time of 71 days, 14 hours, 18 minuets, and 33 seconds. (It should be noted that Joyon previously held this record on his former 90-foot trimaran, IDEC, until Dame Ellen’s victorious run.) Currently, Joyon is on pace to obliterate MacArthur’s record, but as anyone who has sailed offshore can confirm, the biggest challenge will be keeping his boat in one piece, and keeping himself in good health, as there is still a lot of ocean to sail between Joyon’s present location in the India Ocean, and his European finishing line.

For more information, check out www.trimaran-idec.com

Posted: December 12, 2007