In Brest Harbour last night, at 2339 GMT to be precise, Francis Joyon rounded off his solo circumnavigation in style after
setting out on 23rd November 2007. The skipper of the IDEC trimaran completed the theoretical 22,000 mile course in just 57
days, 13 hours, 34 minutes and 6 seconds, that is 14 days better than the previous time held by British sailor Ellen MacArthur
since 2005. Quite simply extraordinary! An exploit which Franck Cammas and Franck Proffit congratulated him on this morning.
Franck Cammas, skipper of Groupama 3
"Hearty congratulations! I've naturally been following the whole record and Francis has sailed an exemplary Round the
World on every level; whether it be for steering his boat, or the global strategy and management of his race. He was particularly
successful in the first part of his course with some very fast weather sequences, but then he knew how to keep up this pace
all the way to the finish, despite some tricky passages to negotiate. We're not going out to tackle the same record, since
we're in crewed configuration, but what he has just achieved is extremely motivating!"
Franck Proffit, head of operations and watch leader on Groupama 3
"It's exceptional... there is no other word for it. I am extremely happy for him as he really deserves this. Francis
is one of the fastest ocean racers in solo configuration and he has shown this in other classes of boat as well as this. Today,
he heads a very fine project, at the helm of a very fine boat and he has known how to get the very best out of the weather.
The alchemy of all these factors has rightly given him this fabulous success today. My sincere congratulations to this great
monsieur."
