Banque Populaire V sets new JVT record—Sailing news from the U.S.

If you're as obsessed with fast sailboats and mind-boggling speed records as I am, here comes a heavy: Skipper Loick Peyron and his crewmates aboard the 131-foot maxi trimaran, Banque Populaire V have set a new Jules Verne Trophy (JVT) record for the fastest circumnavigation.

The team's new record, 45 days, 13 hours, 42 minutes and 53 seconds, represents an average speed of 26.51 knots over the 29,002 miles sailed, and an improvement of 2 days and 18 hours over skipper Franck Cammas' previous JVT record (48 days, 7 hours, 44 minutes and 52 seconds), which he set aboard the smaller maxi trimaran, Groupama in March of 2010. It will be very interesting to see how long Peyron and company's new record holds up, as there are currently no other serious challengers to her record afloat.

Crew of Maxi Banque Populaire V - Jules Verne Trophy 2011  BPCE

'It is not only 45 days at sea that we have just done, but decades of work, and years of commitment from Banque Populaire into sailing,' said Peyron upon finishing. 'We must also pay tribute to Pascal Bidégorry who designed this boat, to Hubert Desjoyeaux who built her and sadly passed away recently, and to the whole team of course. We had this great opportunity to rest on each other. The confidence we had one in the other makes us paradoxically rested. All records are made to be broken and this one will be one day. If there is a boat that can beat it, it is this one!' Given the state of the world's fragile economy, Peyron is likely spot-on with his assessment that Banque Populaire V herself will be doing the honors to this new record.

Be sure to get the full Banque Populaire V media blitz inside, including video footage of the mighty tri crossing her finishing line.

James Spithill keeping low on his A-Cat  © .

Also multi-hull related, check out Sail-World's reports from the Australian A-Cat Nationals, where numerous AC hotshots tested their skills amongst an elite class of sailors. 'It is absolutely fantastic that five Oracle Racing America's Cup guys have come and sailed at the 2012 Australian A Class Catamaran Championships,' said the legenary multihull skipper, Glenn Ashby. 'It's definitely the strongest A-Cat fleet I have ever sailed against and that includes my seven World Championship events. The A Class is great for really honing your skills for sailing on the bigger multihulls. Everything happens at double speed on the A Class compared to what happens on an bigger boat, so learning the do's and don'ts and what you can get away with and what you can't is absolutely applicable to boats like the extreme 40's, AC45's and bigger multihulls going forward into the America's Cup.' Get the full scoop, inside. There will be more Sail-World interviews from this exciting event over the next few days.

Team Sanya arrive in the start city of Alicante, where they will continue training for the start of the Volvo Ocean Race 2011-12  Paul Todd/Volvo Ocean Race©

And jumping from two hulls to one, check out the latest news from the Volvo Ocean Race, where teams are rushing to switch from inshore-race mode to their offshore trim for the start of Leg Three, which will take the fleet from Abu Dhabi to Sanya, China. And be sure to also check in with Mike Sanderson and his struggling Team Sanya campaign, which has been bedeviled with borderline catastrophic boat problems since the start, most notably a broken bow and, less dramatic but equally poisonous, a broken bit of rigging that has waylaid the team for weeks.

optiWorlds12 capizzano 1391 - Day 7 - 2011 Optimist World Championships, Napier NZL  Matías Capizzano/Optiworlds

And finally, be sure to get the latest from the Clipper Around the World Race, the Optimist Worlds, and the Fireball Worlds. Happy Monday.

May the four winds blow you safely home,

Maxi Banque Populaire V enters history after taking Jules Verne Trophy Banque Populaire, Maxi Banque Populaire V was launched back in August 2008 and on the tail end of a second attempt, she and her crew have entered the history books by claiming the Jules Verne Trophy at the end of a 45 day 13 hour 42 minute and 53 second navigation around the globe. The crew sailed Maxi Banque Populaire V into Brest this morning amid cheers emanating from hundreds of supporters.... [more] Share this story

Jules Verne Trophy: Video of Banque Populaire finish Banque Populaire, Video just posted of Banque Populaire V completing her round the world non stop speed record. Just before midnight on 7 January, the max trimaran Banque Populaire V (Loick Peyron) crossed the finish line off the French coast to trim 2 days and 18 hours off the previous mark... [more] Share this story

A-Cat Australians - High drama in last race John Cootes Furniture A-Cat Titles Media, The final day of the Championships was another postcard day on Lake Macquarie, NSW. Blue sky and a light 10-12 knot sea breeze greeted competitors for the last race in the 2012 Australian Championships with the minor placings to be decided in another race of 'champions'.... [more] Share this story

A-Cat Championships: Best fleet ever says The King John Cootes Furniture A-Cat Titles Media, Glenn Ashby, seven times A Class Catamaran World Champion, has won the 2012 John Cootes Furniture A Class Australian Championships.... [more] Share this story

A-Cats and multihull development A-Cat Nationals media, ‘The A Class is great for really honing your skills for sailing on the bigger multihulls. Everything happens at double speed on the A Class compared to what happens on an bigger boat, so learning the do's and don'ts and what you can get away with and what you can't is absolutely applicable to boats like the extreme 40's, AC45's and bigger multihulls going forward into the America's Cup.... [more] Share this story

Jules Verne Trophy claimed by maxi trimaran Banque Populaire V Banque Populaire Voile, In the 2011 Jules Verne Trophy, the 14 sailors on-board Maxi trimaran Banque Populaire V just burst into the history of offshore racing by becoming the fastest men around the globe with crew, after 45 days 13 hours 42 minutes and 53 seconds of sailing*. Loïck Peyron and his crew improved the reference time of the Jules Verne Trophy held by Groupama 3 since March 2010... [more] Share this story

America's Cup: Emirates Team NZ has a partial victory on Voting Rights Richard Gladwell, Emirates Team NZ's question put to the International Jury has been answered with a favourable response from the adjudication body for the America's Cup and its sister series the America's Cup World Series. On 20th December the New Zealand based team which has been competing in the America's Cup for the past 25 years, questioned whether all nine teams that had entered in the America's Cup World... [more] Share this story

Two Gates Pursuit Race 2012 Rick Roberts, Temptress took first place Sunday in the 2012 Two Gates Pursuit Race hosted by Long Beach Yacht Club. A pursuit race is where all boats race each other based on their PHRF handicap rating... but in a reverse start.... [more] Share this story

27th Rose Bowl Regatta Day 2 Rich Roberts, After Day 1 Navy led Stanford by only two points in the 27-boat fleet but stretched that to nine, 61 to 72, at the end with solid, steady sailing.... [more] Share this story

2011 Optimist Worlds: Singapore's Kimberly Lim is new World Champion Nathalie van Dort, The Delta Flag was raised at 10.41, meaning that racing would start at 11.41 for the final day of the World Optimist Championship being sailed at Napier, on the East Coast of New Zealand. It didn't take the 210 sailors long at all to get out onto the water. The wind was very mild, around 10 knots, but the sun came back out again.... [more] Share this story

Clipper Round the World Yacht Race - Qingdao under pressure Heather Ewing, Clipper Round the World Yacht Race - Qingdao cannot afford to let their foot off the gas as another team joins with Geraldton Western Australia to put pressure on the leaders. Derry-Londonderry is now neck and neck with the WA entry, marginally ahead and in second place now while Visit Finland is only a few miles behind the team they have been sailing in close quarters with for some time.... [more] Share this story

Puerto Rico's Smile and Wave ready to sail to podium finishes in 2012 Carol Bareuther, Jaime Torres' hot Beneteau First 40 Smile and Wave, that scored six top three finishes in nine regattas last year, will be back this Caribbean regatta season with brand new gear, deep crew talent and a determination to win. Smile and Wave's story, and watching it play out starting with the Caribbean 600 in February and finishing with Antigua Sailing Week in May, will be exciting to follow.... [more] Share this story

Rose Bowl Regatta - A lively reunion Rich Roberts, The 27th annual Rose Bowl Regatta quickly became a lively reunion among Stanford coach John Vandemoer and the men and women sailors from the U.S. Naval Academy. 'I used to coach all those kids,' he said, standing two points behind the Midshipmen in the 59-boat fleet after the first day of the two-day event Saturday.... [more] Share this story

Optimist Worlds: Long wait paid off for OptiWorldsNZ competitors Nathalie van Dort, For a long time it looked like todays' sailing wasn't going to happen on Day 7 of the 2011 Optimist World Championships, being staged at Napier on the East Coast of New Zealand. A passing tropical low pressure zone kicked up a big swell. Further up the coast the stricken container ship, MV Rena broke up three months after grounding on Astrolabe Reef.... [more] Share this story

Maritime NZ - Rena Disaster - 8 January: Ship breaks up in storm Maritime NZ, Maritime NZ, have advised that the container ship Rena, which has been the subject of a major salvage operation off the Tauranga coast has broken up on the most severe storm to hit the area since her grounding three months ago on the Astrolabe Reef. Read on for the latest updates and images. Updated with latest video... [more] Share this story

IFDS World Championships preview International Paralympic Committee, IFDS World Championships will get underway today with an Opening Ceremony and Welcome Party featuring nations and representatives from local boating clubs. The annual event is the biggest major competition in the sport ahead of the London 2012 Paralympic Games and will see more than 100 sailors, on some 75 boats, from 20 countries take part.... [more] Share this story

Clipper Round the World Race - Close battle for lead Heather Ewing, Clipper Round the World Yacht Race - Qingdao has been holding the lead through the last 24 hours but Geraldton Western Australia is gaining ground on the Chinese entry, despite their spinnaker damage, and now the two yachts, barely 20 miles apart geographically have been able to make contact with each other.... [more] Share this story

America's Cup: Ainslie announcement prompts Cup conjecture - Live Richard Gladwell, Ben Ainslie, winner of four Olympic medals, three of them Gold, will hold a media conference to announce his plans post 2012. The announcement will be made at the Royal Festival Hall, London. Ainslie is expected to announce his sailing direction beyond the 2012 Olympics, in which he has been nominated to represent Britain in the Heavyweight Singlehander (Finn) class.... [more] Share this story

Jules Verne Trophy - Four laps and two major records for Thompson Vicky Pounds, Brian Thompson is the only British crew member on-board maxi trimaram Banque Populaire V and today he clocked up two major records as the boat crossed the finish line this evening near Brest, France in the 2011 Jules Verne Trophy. Thompson is part of the crew that has just smashed the world speed record for a lap of the planet on-board a yacht... [more] Share this story

Banque Populaire has set a new round the world record Sail-World, Banque Populaire V, the 40 metre maxi trimaran, has set a new round the world non-stop sailing record. At the finish point off Oessant, France, she will finish 1650nm ahead of the reference point for the previous record holder, Groupama (Franck Cammas).... [more] Share this story

Jules Verne Trophy - A day away from world record + Videos Vicky Pounds, In the Jules Verne Trophy, Frenchman Loick Peyron skippering Maxi Banque Populaire V is expected to cross the finish line between 21:00hrs GMT on Friday 6 January and 23:00hrs GMT on Saturday 7 January 2012 with his men which includes Brit Brian Thompson.... [more] Share this story

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