On 1 August, a new single day sail record was set off the Azores (Portugal). François Joyon, captain of the IDEC trimaran, sailed 668 miles in 24 hours, improving the previous record (Thomas Coville 2008) by 40 miles. It is easy to calculate that the average speed was 27.8 knots.
François Joyon: "I passed a patch of heavy swell and set the sails. The swell got better and the wind picked up to 32 knots. It was very dangerous and the trimaran was always on the edge of capsizing. I spent the whole 24 hours in my cockpit with the jib in one hand and the jib in the other. When a trimaran hit a wave I usually spent one end or the other but quite often I had to weed both at once. No rest, just muesli as my only food."
