Alex Thompson Racing sets 24-hour distance record

The World Sailing Speed Record Council this week said it had ratified the effort of British international yacht racing specialist Alex Thompson and his crew after they covered 539.71 nautical miles in a single 24-hour period aboard the IMOCA 60 Hugo Boss.

“Sailing onboard the Hugo Boss IMOCA 60 race boat, the crew were successfully able to sail 539.71 nautical miles over the course of 24 hours, breaking the existing record - set by Thomson himself in 2017 - by 2.9nm,” Alex Thompson Racing said in a statement.

“The record was broken on 19-20 July, during a transatlantic delivery from New York to the United Kingdom. Thomson and four crew members sailed at an average speed of 22.49 knots during the 24-hour period.”

The boat was being delivered ahead of an entry in the 2018 Route du Rhum, an ocean race from France to Guadeloupe. This year’s race – the 11th anniversary of the event’s first running – will include 20 IMOCA class boats, with 10 of them, including Hugo Boss, riding on foils.

“An interesting unknown will be the British skipper Alex Thomson on Hugo Boss, which he sailed brilliantly to second place in the last Vendee Globe,” race organisers said.

“Although Thomson is expecting a new boat next year, we do not know whether he has made modifications to the current Hugo Boss – it will be fascinating to see how he gets on against Beyou.”

That latter reference is to the triple winner of the Solitaire du Figaro, Jérémie Beyou of France, who will race his new IMOCA, Charal.

“This boat – the very latest from the designers VPLP – represents the new generation in the class with its very large and angular foils,” organisers said. “Beyou has posted some spectacular video on social media of his new flying machine, which looks exceptionally fast and a real handful to sail.”

The Race du Rumb starts at St Malo, France, on November 4.