solo

San Salvador, Bahamas - Francis Joyon of France has made land, and set a new world sailing record* for the Discovery Route from Cadiz, Spain.  With a time of 9 days, 20 hours, and 35 minutes, IDEC has beat the previous record set by Thomas Coville, and added yet another feat to Joyon's collection (Joyon also holds the 'round the world solo record).  This route is an approximation of the course that Columbus took in 1492 when it is often said he "discovered" the new world (though the Americas were already populated, and ha

Canary Islands - Francis Joyon left Cadiz, Spain yesterday, sailing his famous maxi-trimaran yacht IDEC for a new world trans-Atlantic record on the historic Discovery Route from Cadiz to San Salvador in the Bahamas - the same route it is assumed Christopher Columbus took in 1492. With the 'round the world solo record under his belt (set in January), Joyon is aiming to break the Discovery Route time set by Thomas Coville on Sodeb'O, and it's going to be a tough

Caligari, Sardinia, Italy - "If you go overboard, you're dead."  Some form of that is the mantra of many an ocean sailor, and particularly solo sailors.  The idea is to stay on the boat, no matter what.  So on Friday, during the solo (singlehanded) Cap Istanbul Race, when Matthieu Girolet came upon competing boat SIRMA flogging in the darkness with a torn spinnaker, the horror of what had happened was soon obvious.  SIRMA was empty, and her skipper Christophe Bouvet was somewhere out in the darkness, lost at sea.

Day 71 at Sea: Fedor Konuykhov ticked off another major mile-stone overnight, passing the Cape of Good Hope during his solo circumnavigation of Antarctica. 'Iceberg ally', as the South Atlantic Ocean has been called this season, is also behind him, but the 56 year old Russian adventurer, trailblazing an inaugural record around the Antarctica Cup Racetrack from Albany, Western Australia and back aboard hi