New solo 24 hour record

Armel le Cleac'h and Banque Pop VII on fire on their Route of Discovery record attempt

Armel Le Cléac’h set off on Thursday at 19:56:59 UTC his attempt to break the singlehanded record for the 3884 mile long Route of Discovery course, from Cadiz, Spain, across the Atlantic to the island of San Salvador in the Bahamas, leaving Gran Canaria to starboard. The record currently stands at 8 days 16 hours 7 minutes and 5 seconds, set last year by Francis Joyon on IDEC 2.

Le Cléac’h, who is undertaking this record as part of his training for this autumn's Route du Rhum, is doing a formidable job. His Banque Populaire VII, the 31.5m long VPLP-designed trimaran that was former Groupama 3, rounded Gran Canaria at 0300 on Saturday, some 50 miles ahead of Joyon's pace and has since been steadily extending.

Into the strong trade winds, the big tri has been regularly sailing in the vicinity of 30 knots and yesterday managed to set a new record for the fastest ever singlehanded 24 hour run up until 1600 Sunday of 677 miles or 28.2 knot average, although this awaits ratificiation from the arbitrators in such matters, the WSSRC. Previously this record stood at 666.2, set by Francis Joyon.

"It's perfect, it's great!" commented Armel Le Cléac'h. "I've beaten the 24 hour distance record! Since leaving the Canary Islands, conditions have been conducive to speed, although I'm remaining cautious. The sea is in the right direction and my trimaran is almost as fast as the wind (about 30 knots). This record was one of the goals from this Route of Discovery attempt or from late May between New York and the Lizard. But today, it is in the bag."

In fact since then, Le Cléac'h has broken his own record. At 01:15 this morning, Banque Populaire VII had cover 682 miles in the last 24 hours. He is now approaching 400 miles ahead of Joyon's pace.