So Fast, So Short

If you thought that Francis Joyon’s time for crossing the North Atlantic solo from New York to the UK was fast, wait until you hear this.

Joyon topped his own record last week, covering the 3,039-mile course in his 104-ft maxi-trimaran IDEC Sport in 5 days, 2 hours, 7 minutes. But, over the weekend, rival French sailor Thomas Coville, 49, eclipsed Joyon’s short-lived benchmark, setting a new bar below the five-day mark. Coville’s 102-ft Sodebo Ultim’ sailed out past the Ambrose Light in New York Harbor on the morning of Tuesday, July 11, and passed the Lizard Light, the southernmost point in mainland Cornwall, on Saturday evening. Pending ratification, the new time to beat is 4 days, 11 hours 10 minutes, 23 seconds.

Both Coville and Joyon were delivering their trimarans back to Europe from The Bridge race to New York. Hey, you gotta get the boat back anyway — might as well set a record while you’re at it.

Coville also holds the record for the fastest solo circumnavigation of just 49 days, set last December.