Francis Joyon

During the record run, he sailed more than 28,000 nautical miles (51,900 km) at an average speed of 15.5 knots (28.7 km/h) on the 27 metres (89 ft) IDEC.

On 6 July 2005 Francis Joyon and IDEC crossed the finishing line between Lizard Point and Ushant 6 days 4 hours 1 minute and 37 seconds after the start at Ambrose Light off New York, breaking the 11-year-old record of Laurent Bourgnon for the single-handed crossing of the Atlantic Ocean with a sailing boat.

Joyon's record voyage ended badly on 7 July while he was sailing back to his home port after completion of the transatlantic run.

On 23 November 2007 Joyon set off in IDEC 2 in an attempt to beat Ellen MacArthur's world record for a single handed circumnavigation.

He achieved this on 20 January 2008 in 57 days, 13 hours 34 minutes and 6 seconds,[2] in a voyage that is regarded as one of the most impressive sailing feats in recent history and in a time nearly two weeks less than the previous record.