Only a day and a half into his attempt on the singlehanded Route of Discovery, Francis Joyon is nearly 120 miles ahead of the current record’s pace. Charging out of Cadiz, Spain, Joyon’s 97-ft Irens/Cabaret designed trimaran IDEC covered 581 miles as he blew past Gran Canaria — the only mark of the course — in the first 24 hours of his attempt. The record Joyon is pursuing belongs to Thomas Coville and his ORMA 60 Sodeb’O that was set in 2005 at 10d, 11h, 50 min.

“I was constantly between 25 and 33 knots,” Joyon said. “I made a good distance over this first day. I haven’t slept more than one or two hours but I never sleep much the first night — I listen to the boat; I try to include and understand it; I adapt.”

In the lighter air expected toward the middle and end of the route in San Salvador, Coville’s smaller and more nimble 60-footer may still prove to have an advantage, so Joyon may need all the cushion he’s building right now. Meanwhile Coville is preparing his near-sistership to IDEC, the 105-ft Sodeb’O, for another ’round the world singlehanded record attempt. Earlier this year, Coville was forced to drop out of his first attempt with ama damage, as he chased Joyon around the planet on what ended up being the latter’s astounding 57d, 13h achievement.

Island YC’s Jack & Jill + 1 race will be held this Sunday afternoon on the Estuary. The race is the final event in the Latitude 38 Women’s Circuit so if you want a crack at the tiara, get out there for a great day of sailing. And don’t forget the post-race Chili Cook-off — you can bring your own or just enjoy everyone else’s cooking. Sign-ups will be taken until the skipper’s meeting Sunday morning. Head on over to their website for details.

As for the Women’s Circuit, the gal who participated in the most women’s events — from all-female races to women’s seminars — will be crowned the new Queen, a title held since last November by Lucie Mewes. Send a list of events you participated in to Christine by November 15 to enter.

With a new generation of Volvo 70s racing around the globe in this year’s Volvo Ocean Race, the consensus had been that the 24-hour monohull speed record set in the last edition would fall — it was only a question of when. The ‘when’ turned out to be earlier today as the crew of Torben Grael’s Ericsson 4 turned in a 594.2-mile 24 hours, while pushing to stay in a front that could carry them all the way to Cape Town.

While putting up an average speed of 24.7 knots, Ericsson 4 also managed to put 27 miles between it and Ken Read’s Puma — all this despite being a man down after watch captain Tony Mutter was dropped off in the Cape Verde Islands a week ago with a severely infected knee. The previous record of 562.9 miles was set by ABN AMRO 2 in the last race.