Description:

French Team Break Round the World Sailing Race Record


Maxi Trimaran Banque Populaire V has beaten the world record for sailing around the world in the Jules Verne Trophy.

The boat, which included sailors from a number of countries as well as Brian Thompson from Southampton in England, smashed the original time of 48 days by nearly three days, crossing the finishing line at 23:14 local time on Friday 6 January 2012 in a record 45 days, 13 hours, 42 minutes & 53 seconds.

A flotilla of boats and crowds welcomed French skipper Loïck Peyron and his crew of 13 as they sailed into Brest harbour in Finistère (29).

The team set sail on 22 November 2011 from Ushant, also in Brittany, and averaged speeds of 26.51 knots to cover a total distance of 29 002 nautical miles.  On their trip the low points were missing being able to spend Christmas Day and New Year ashore with family and friends due to weather delays in both the Pacific and North Atlantic and not seeing Cape Horn.  Some of the high points were seeing a new comet on Christmas Day, passing an iceberg ‘as big as half of the Isle of Wight’ and seeing the Kerguelen Islands.







The Maxi Trimaran Banque Populaire V, a 40 metre giant trimaran, was launched in 2008 and has already set a series of world records ratified by the WSSRC (World Sailing Speed Record Council), including Equator–Equator and the Indian Ocean record.  It was forced to retire from its first attempt in the 2010/11 Jules Verne Trophy, whilst leading the race, due to damage that the crew were unable to repair satisfactorily.


Find a branch of Banque Populaire on the Côte d’Azur.

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