It has been an incredible night for Pascal Bidégorry and his 11 man crew on Maxi Banque Populaire V. They pulverized the 24 hour record by traveling 907 milles. That is an average of 37.79 knots for 24 hours. This is subject to the official ratification by the WSSRC (World Sailing Speed Council Record), official international agency for ratification of the oceanic records. The record was broken 8 times during the night. This 24 hour record was previously held by Franck Cammas on Groupama 3 since 2007 with 794 miles and an average speed of 33.08 kts.
This was a hard fought battle with Groupama 3 who also broke the record shortly during the night This is how the battle played out during the night. Record for distance covered in 24 hours Friday 31st July at 2100 hours UT (Groupama 3): 801.8 miles Friday 31st July at 2200 hours UT (Groupama 3): 829.9 miles Saturday 1st August at 02 hours UT (Banque Populaire V): 856.1 miles Saturday 1st August at 1000 hours UT (Banque Populaire V): 907.9 miles .
Congratulations to Pascal Bidégorry and his crew. And also to Franck Cammas and his crew onboard Groupama 3 for breaking the record twice last night even though they were bested at the end of the night be Banque Populaire V. What an amazing accompilishment by both skippers and their crews.