Freakin’ Francis Joyon….

This guy is just relentless. Just a couple of days into his solo west-east transatlantic attempt he put the hammer down and knocked off the solo 24-hour record, sailing 543 miles at an average speed of 22.62 knots. That beats Laurent Bourgnon’s 11-year old record, and puts Joyon 240 miles ahead of Bourgnon’s transatlantic pace. Typically, Joyon wasn’t even aware that he was on a record pace. He was just sailing hard, doing his thing. Now he’s 240 miles ahead of Bourgnon’s transatlantic pace with just 539 miles to go. (Follow along here). In other words, he’s going to nail this crossing record unless his mast falls down or a float breaks off. Watching closely is Joyon’s friendly nemesis, Ellen MacArthur. She plans to take a crack at this record in September. Will she steal another one from M. Joyon…

“Hmmm. If Ellen is following in September maybe I should drop a few mines over the side…”