Speed sailing records are sanctioned, since 1972, by the World Sailing Speed Record Council (WSSRC). Records are measured either by average speed over a specified distance or by total distance traveled during a specified time interval. The three most sought after records are the: 500 metre (or "outright") record is held by Paul Larsen. On 24 November 2012 he sailed the Vestas Sailrocket 2 at 65.45 knots in Walvis Bay, Namibia. Nautical mile record is held by Paul Larsen. On 18 November 2012 he sailed the Vestas Sailrocket 2 at 55.32 knots in Walvis Bay, Namibia. 24 Hour distance record is held by Pascal Bidégorry. On 1 August 2009 he sailed the Banque Populaire V 908 nautical miles (at 37.84 knots). This was while he was breaking the northern Atlantic record.
500 metre records Date Craft Skipper Location Speed (knots) Speed (km/h) Speed (mph) Comment 24 November 2012 Vestas Sailrocket 2 Paul Larsen AUS Walvis Bay, NAM 65.45121.175.2First record above 60 knots 18 November 2012Vestas Sailrocket 2 Paul Larsen AUSWalvis Bay, NAM59.23109.6968.128 October 2010 Kitesurf Robert Douglas USALüderitz, NAM55.65103.06 64.028 October 2010 Kitesurf Sebastien Cattelan FRALüderitz, NAM55.49102.76 63.814 minutes before Robert Douglas' record. Homologated by the WSSRC.12 October 2010 Kitesurf Alexandre Caizergues FRALüderitz, NAM54.10100.1962.3First record above 100 km/h4 September 2009l'Hydroptère - hydrofoil trimaranAlain Thébault FRA Hyères FRA 51.3695.1159.1Nautical mile record broken on the same run. An instantaneous maximum speed of 55 knots was recorded.2008 Kitesurf Alexandre Caizergues FRALüderitz, NAM50.5793.6558.22008 Kitesurf Sebastien Cattelan FRALüderitz, NAM50.2693.0857.8First record above 50 knots2008 Kitesurf Robert Douglas USALüderitz, NAM49.8492.3057.42008 WindsurfAntoine Albeau FRAStes.Maries, FRA49.0990.9156.52005 Windsurf Finian Maynard IRLStes.Maries, FRA48.7090.1956.02004 Windsurf Finian Maynard IRLStes.Maries, FRA46.8286.7153.91993 Yellow Pages Endeavour - proaSimon McKeon AUSSandy Point, AUS46.5286.1553.51991 Windsurf Thierry Bielak FRAStes.Maries, FRA44.6682.7151.41990 Windsurf Pascal Maka FRAStes.Maries, FRA43.0679.7449.51989Catamaran Techniques AvancéesGérard Navarin FRAStes-Maries (France)42,127848,471988 Windsurf Erik Beale GBRStes.Maries, FRA40.4874.9646.6First record above 40 knots1986 Windsurf Pascal Maka FRASotavento, SP38.8671.9644.71980 Crossbow II catamaranTim Colman GBRPortland, UK36.0066.6741.41977 Crossbow II catamaranTim Colman GBRPortland, UK34.4063.7039.61977 Crossbow II catamaranTim Colman GBRPortland, UK33.8062.5938.91975 Crossbow II catamaranTim Colman GBRPortland, UK31.8058.8936.61975 Crossbow proaTim Colman GBRPortland, UK31.1057.5935.8First record above 30 knots1973 Crossbow proaTim Colman GBRPortland, UK29.3054.2633.71972 Crossbow (proa)Tim Colman GBRPortland, UK26.3048.7030.3First record above 30 mph
Class records
Last updated: 19 November 2012.
Category Date Craft Skipper Location Speed (knots) Speed (km/h)D Class (Over 300 ft2)4 September 2009l'Hydroptère Alain Thébault FRA Hyères FRA 51.3695.11C Class (Up to 300 ft2 (27.88 m2))2009 Macquarie Innovation Simon McKeon AUSSandy Point, AUS50.0792.72B Class (Up to 235 ft2 (21.84 m2))2012 Vestas Sailrocket 2 Paul Larsen AUSWalvis Bay, NAM65.45121.1A Class (Up to 150 ft2 (13.93 m2))1992 LongshotRussel Long USATarifa, SP43.5580.6510 m2 (Up to 10 m2)2015 WindsurferAntoine Albeau FRALüderitz, NAM53.2798.66Kite Sailing2013KitesurferAlex Caizergues FRASalin-de-Giraud, FRA56.62104.86
Nautical mile records
Date Craft Skipper Location Speed (knots) Speed (km/h) 18 November 2012Vestas Sailrocket 2 Paul Larsen AUSWalvis Bay, NAM55.32102.458 November 2009 l'Hydroptère Alain Thébault FRA Hyères FRA 50.17 92.91.4 September 2009l'Hydroptère Alain Thébault FRA Hyères FRA 48.7290.23500 metre record broken on the same run.Oct 2008 l'Hydroptère Alain Thébault FRA Port Saint-Louis FRA 43.0979.80April 2007 l'Hydroptère Alain Thébault FRA Baie de Quiberon FRA 41.6977.21October 2006 Windsurfer Bjorn Dunkerbeck ND Walvis bay, Namibia 41.1476.19October 2005 WindsurferFinian Maynard IRLWalvis bay, Namibia 39.9774.02November 2004 WindsurferBjorn Dunkerbeck ND Port Saint-Louis FRA 34.4463.78July 2003 WindsurferBjorn Dunkerbeck ND Aringa, Grand Canaria 33.9662.89
Day's run A Day's run is the distance traveled by a vessel in one day, normally measured from noon to noon. This was the traditional measure used in the days of packet and clipper ships and varied in the actual time dependent on whether the vessel was sailing east or west. The records certified by the WSSRC since 1994 are based on a 24-hour distance measure irrespective of longitude.
24 hour distance record Distance Yacht Skipper Crew Date Competition Average speed Lightning James Nolan "Bully" Forbes1 March 1854 Champion of the Seas Alexander Newlands11 December 1854 Formule Tag Michael Birch1984 Fleury Michon VIII Philippe Poupon1987 Jet Services V Serge Madec1990 Lyonnaise des eaux Olivier de Kersauson1994 Primagaz Laurent Bourgnon (singlehanded) 11994 Explorer Bruno Peyron1994 PlayStation Steve Fossett1999 Club Med Bruno Peyron & Grant Dalton 1411 November 2000 Innovation Explorer Loick Peyron 132001 The Race Club Med Grant Dalton2001 PlayStation Steve Fossett2001 Maiden II Adrienne Cahalan, Helena Darvelid & Brian Thompson2002 Orange II Bruno Peyron2004 Orange II Bruno Peyron3 July 2006 Groupama 3 Franck Cammas 10 20 July 2007 Banque Populaire V Pascal Bidégorry 11 August 2009
Note that the nineteenth century records are not strictly compatible as they measure a "Day's run" which was measured noon to noon regardless of longitude. The two entries above were both eastbound and therefore less than 24 hours.
Notable performances During her Jules Verne Trophy record in 2011-2012, the Banque Populaire V skippered by Loïck Peyron covered 811.70 nautical miles in 24 hours on 3 December 2011 at 11:45 UT, posting 28 days over 600 miles, including 9 days over 700 miles and 1 day over 800 miles.Trophy Jules-Verne, Partials and statistics
During her Jules-Verne trophy record in 2009-2010, the trimaran Groupama 3 skippered by Franck Cammas covered 798 nautical miles in 24 hours on 13 February 2010 at 5 p.m. UT, showing 17 days over 600 miles, including 10 days over 700 miles.
During her Jules-Verne trophy record in 2016-2017, the trimaran Idec sport in the hands of Francis Joyon and his crew of Clément Surtel, Alex Pella, Bernard Stamm, Gwénolé Gahinet and Sébastien Audigane, covered 894 nautical miles in 24 hours, and 10 consecutive days at 809 miles / 24 h. Francis Joyon rounds Cape Horn, 16 days after riding off of South America, and after a course of nearly 12,000 miles above an average of 30 knots (730.16 miles / 24 h over 16 days). He then signs a performance increase of between 30 and 40% compared to the record to be broken by Loïck Peyron 5 years earlier. Leaving the southern seas with a lead of 4 j 06 h 35 min over Loïck Peyron's previous record, Francis Joyon, Clément Surtel, Alex Pella, Bernard Stamm, Gwénolé Gahinet and Sébastien Audigane regained the equivalent of 2,800 miles on the record during this episode.
During the aborted attempt of 2019, Yann Guichard sets a new record crossing the equator in 4 days 19 h 57 min and, thanks to favorable weather conditions, lines up 4,812.1 miles from the 11th to 16th day, or 802 miles / day for 6 consecutive days.
24 hour distance record for Armel Le Cléac'h on Banque Populaire VII: 682,85 miles in 24 hours singlehanded on 26 January 2014 (28,45 knots).
During his record around the world Singlehanded in 2017, 24 hour distance record for François Gabart on Macif: 850,68 miles in 24h.
During his attempt for the Jules Verne Trophy on 5 December 2020, Thomas Coville on :fr:Sodebo Ultim 3 covered 889.9 miles in 24 hours (37.1 knots average, top speed 48.9 knots).
During his attempt for the Jules Verne Trophy on 21 December 2024, François Gabart on SVR-Lazartigue covered 892.2 miles in 24 hours (37.2 knots average, top speed over 50 knots).
During the return trip after his victory in the 2021 Transat Jacques-Vabre, Charles Caudrelier broke two unofficial records on the :fr:Maxi Edmond de Rothschild: in false solo training, he reached 50.7 knots, and covered 880 miles in 24 hours at an average speed of 36.6 knots. This last record cannot be approved for a lack of adequate equipment on board..
124 hour Boston Teapot record The Boston Teapot Trophy is an annual award given by Sail Training International to a sail training vessel that covers the greatest distance under sail within a 124-hour period. A vessel must have a waterline length exceeding 30 feet (9.14 m) with a majority of the crew under 25 years of age.
The Guinness World Records officially acknowledged Statsraad Lehmkuhl's record in 2016.
The top five distances recorded since the start of the race in 1964 have been :
Distance Average speed Ship Date Ref Statsraad Lehmkuhl 2016 Kaiwo Maru 1995 Kaiwo Maru 1990 ARA Libertad 1966 Kaiwo Maru 1994
Instantaneous speed record
The idea of an instantaneous speed record is not officially sanctioned by the WSSRC and is, therefore, not officially measured or documented. The highest speed ever reported is from the crew of Vestas Sailrocket 2 : on 24 November 2012 they recorded a top speed of 68.33 knots in a 25–29-knot wind.
Previously, the highest speed ever reported was from the crew of l'Hydroptère. During an attempt on 21 December 2008 at Port-Saint-Louis-du-Rhône, they recorded a top speed of approximately 61 knots (speed not verified or registered on any onboard instrumentation) during a 45 knot gust of wind. This heavy gust of wind overpowered the sailboat, causing it to capsize at high speed. The crew sustained only minor injuries.61 knots for l'Hydroptère
"Sovereign of the Seas", 1852, 258 ft, the fastest and longest ship yet built when she was launched in New York, designed and built by Donald Mackay, America's foremost clipper designer. On her maiden voyage, she sailed New York to San Francisco in 103 days. This ship achieved the fastest ever recorded speed of a sailing vessel (22 knots).
Notable people Farrel O'Shea (born 1963), former professional windsurfer
See also World Sailing Speed Record Council Speed sailing Transatlantic sailing record
Notes
External links and references records on 500m on the World Sailing Speed Record Council site records on 1 nautical mile on the World Sailing Speed Record Council site L'Hydroptère record at 51,36 knots, 4 September 2009, on Youtube Vestas Sailrocket site Macquarie Innovation site Banque Populaire V site Crossbow I and II on the Dave Culp SpeedSailing site