The international sailor from Charentes, François Gabart, has this weekend set off on a solo circumnavigation of the world, which he hopes will take him under 49 days and 3 hours.
You can follow his journey in real-time through this interactive map.
The sailor - who was the 2012-13 winner of the Vendée Globe round-the-world race (and its youngest-ever winner, then age 29) - crossed his latest departure line in Brest at 9h05 GMT (10h05 in France) yesterday, in his ship, named Macif, reported local news source France Info.
Depart TDM #RevonsLarge https://t.co/KQp0bJ4stC
— François GABART (@francoisgabart) November 4, 2017
He will attempt to break the record created by another French sailor, Thomas Coville, on 25 December 2016, who did the journey in 49 days, 3 hours, 4 minutes and 28 seconds.
This in itself was significantly quicker than the previous record-holder, Francis Joyon, who managed 57 days and 13 hours in 2008.
“Looking at Colville’s time, it’s unlikely that I will beat it,” said Gabart to the Agence France-Presse before his departure. “But there is a chance, and I’m pinning my hopes on that. I will do everything I can to beat it.”
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