Phaedo3 sets new world record on Fastnet Race original course

by Rachel Jaspersen on 17 Sep 2015 Lloyd Thornburg’s MOD 70 trimaran Phaedo3 has capped a very busy season with a very special record. He and the crew of Phaedo3 have just completed the Fastnet Race original course in approximately 27 hours and 34 minutes (pending ratification by the World Sailing Speed Record Council). They’ve shaved approximately four hours off the old record and will be able to add the Fastnet Race original course record to the impressive list of records Thornburg and company have already set this year once the WSSRC ratifies the record run.

After battling for line honours with the legendary 131-foot trimaran Spindrift 2 (formerly named Banque Populaire V) in the uncharacteristically light winds of this year’s Rolex Fastnet Race (they finished second overall), Thornburg, Co-skipper Brian Thompson and the rest of the crew had a feeling they could do more. In fact they thought that in the right conditions, they might have a shot at breaking the course record set by the legendary 131-foot trimaran Banque Populaire V skippered by the renowned Loïck Peyron during the race in 2011.
They got the right conditions yesterday, wound Phaedo3 up to 30 knots almost as soon as she crossed the starting line off Cowes at 1.24am on Wednesday the 16th September, and they never looked back.

After just crossing the finish line a very elated Lloyd said, “ We are really excited to have the Fastnet World record (yet to be ratified) , What an amazing sail, it’s not an easy course, it’s one of our favourites and we wanted to see if we could make it our own and thankfully we did…'

Record breaking crew is:
Lloyd Thornburg Owner/Co-Skipper
Brian Thompson Co-Skipper
Miles Seddon
Rob Greenhalgh
Pete Cumming
Fraser Brown
Warren Fitzgerald