Rare sailing record obliterated

Sailing around the world solo, through the southern oceans, remains one of the sport’s purest challenges. Doing so the ‘wrong way’ round – westabout, against the prevailing weather systems – is rightly regarded as a Herculean task, in the sphere of climbing Everest without oxygen.

French adventurer Guirec Soudée is only the sixth person to ever achieve it – half the number of people who have walked on the moon.

“It remains one of the toughest challenges in offshore sailing,” explains Dee Caffari, who became the only female sailor ever to complete it in 2006.

“It’s less about speed and more about endurance, determination, and mental strength. It is relentless. The conditions wear you down and test you beyond any level you can imagine.”

No previous sailor had even come close to achieving it in a multihull. When Soudée crossed the finish line off Ushant this March, he demolished a record which had stood for over 20 years, on a boat that many believed was eminently unsuited to the task: a 104-foot trimaran. – Full report