British solo sailor, Alex Thomson has smashed the single-handed monohull transatlantic record, by more than 24 hours, crossing the finish line at Lizard Point, off Falmouth in Cornwall, in time to get back for the London Olympic Opening ceremony. The 38 year old sailor crossed the line at 17:17GMT (18:17 BST) setting the new time at 8 days 22 hours 8 minutes, beating the previous record, subject to ratification by the World Sailing Speed Record Council, which had been held for 10 years.
“It has been a long few days,†said Alex. “The first half from New York was great with weather conditions in our favour, but things started to slow down the closer I got. But the wind  … More
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668 nautical miles. 1237 kilometres. That is the new 24 hour distance record for a boat skippered by a solo sailor. The French sailor Francis Joyon set this new outright 24 hour speed record yesterday evening aboard his 29-metre giant trimaran IDEC achieving an average speed of 27.83 knots.*
Francis Joyon set off from la Trinité-sur-Mer in Brittany last Friday to head for the Azores to look for ideal conditions to tackle the record set by Thomas Coville, who sailed 628.5 nautical miles in 2008 on his second attempt at the round the world record, still held by Francis  … More
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Big, Big, Big news! The world’s largest sailing trimaran has sailed around the planet to achieve the most sought after of ocean records – the Jules Verne Trophy. Once again, history has been made, and once again the world record* is back into the hands of the Peyron sailing dynasty. Under the command of Loick Peyron (brother of Bruno, who made the same record in 1994, 2002, and 2005), and through the skill and determination of a very talented crew including Brian Thompson (who earned the record with Steve Fossett in 2004), Banque Populaire V has conquered the world, and sailed non-stop around the globe in a total time of 45 days, 13 hours, 42 minutes and 53 seconds for a new world sailing record*.
Clearly, size does matter … More
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Despite the fact that most of us (including mega yacht owners themselves) know the impracticality of sailing boats bigger than we can safely operate short-handed, we are all drawn to larger and larger yachts for the same basic reasons. They’re faster, they’re more comfortable, they can carry more guests and more toys, and they make other people jealous. These are the same factors whether you are moving from a 30′ sailboat to a 40-footer, or from a mere 100′ super yacht to one that’s 200′ plus. The only difference is in the scale (of size, price and pride).
Of course, a purpose-built 30-50 foot yacht can go anywhere in the world, and can  … Pictures and more
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