The British sailor Brian Thompson has broken the round the globe world record. He was a member of the crew on board Banque Populaire V.
The previous record was just under 48 days, but Thompson and the rest of the 14 man crew clocked a scarecely believable time of 45 days, 13 hours, 42 minutes and 53 seconds, over 2 days faster than the previous record. On a record breaking day though, Thompson was not finished, and he becomes the first Briton to circumnavigate the globe non-stop four times. The boat they were using was a 40 metre maxi-trimaran, and as it sailed through at 10.15 on Friday evening to collect the Jules Verne trophy, Thompson spoke of his pride and pleasure: "This has been an incredible trip, almost a dream ride, to achieve my dream of finall holding the Jules Verne trophy feels absolutely fantastic." "At the same time, to become the first Briton to sail around the world non-stop four times is just amazing and feels very special." He was also full of praise for the rest of the crew, who despite losing nearly two days due to stormy weather, still broke the record by two days: "(They are) talented, industrious, dedicated, fun and welcoming to an English guy with schoolboy French." The Southampton based sailor has sailed over 100,000 miles with American adventurer Steve Fossett, but admitted that this trip had some of the hardest moments of his sailing career, in particular, missing Christmas and New Year with his loved ones. However he said it was in part made up for by seeing a comet on Christmas day, and an iceberg "half as big as the Isle of Wight".
