30 sailors to sail 24,000 miles around the world in Vendee Globe
Francis Joyon, on his maxi trimaran IDEC, has bettered the Route de Discovery transatlantic record set by Thomas Coville (FRA). Shaving 15hrs and 15 minutes off the record, the new record stands at 9 days and 20hrs from Cadiz, Spain to San Salvador, Bahamas. This comes after having sailed around the world in 53 days and smashing Ellen Mac Arthurs around the around world record by 18 days. www.trimaran-
The just recently launched, Bank Populaire, the largest fully crewed ocean racing trimaran in the world, built for breaking all distance ocean records, is also aiming for a Route de Discovery record for their sailing debut . www.voile.banquepopulaire.fr
The sixth Vendee Globe, the non-stop solo around the world race, has started, November 9th 2008 from Les Sables d'Olonne, France.. 20 newly constructed boats, IMOCA 60, 30 sailors from 7 nations, 13 non-French many, 16 for the first time, others having sailed several times. The one thing they have in common: they only have one set of sails for three months of sailing around the world; 14 of 30 skippers have chosen sails designed with Fabric and built by Incidences Sails. www.vendeeglobe.org
Going for pure speed, the Hydroptere, the flying hydrofoil trimaran, currently sailing from their base in Port-Saint-Louis-
Photo:
http://www.prlog.org/
