Banque Populaire V Jules Verne Trophy attempt - Day 42

Record breaking British sailor, Brian Thompson, is currently on course to smash the ultimate round the world speed record as part of the crew aboard the maxi trimaran Banque Populaire V, skippered by Frenchman Loick Peyron.

Just 42 days ago Loick Peyron, together with his crew of 13, crossed the start line in Brest, France in pursuit of the Jules Verne Trophy, a prize for the fastest circumnavigation of the world by any type of yacht. Today they look set to beat the current record which stands at 48 days 7 hours 44 minutes and 52 seconds, held by Groupama 3, as they prepare to blast their way across the Atlantic towards the finish line.

South coast based Thompson is the only British crew member onboard Banque Populaire V and, commenting on their progress earlier today, said:
"We are delighted with our current status and keeping everything crossed that we can enter the record books later this week. I am very proud to be flying the flag for Britain on this voyage and, this being the fourth time I have raced non-stop around the world, have been able to make many comparisons with previous circumnavigations. Believe me, the exhilaration of being onboard Banque Populaire V is like nothing else I have experienced!"

Thompson is no stranger to world records having made it into the history books already by achieving an impressive portfolio of sailing records. A vastly experienced and successful offshore sailor, Thompson has been racing the two and three-hulled speed machines for twenty years, notching up an impressive twenty-five sailing records and setting him apart from every world class sailor on the grand prix circuit.

On successful completion of this voyage, Thompson will also become the first Briton to circumnavigate the globe non-stop for a fourth time, beating existing records held by fellow sailors Dee Caffari MBE and Mike Golding OBE. With the 2012 Olympic Games looming, the focus this year will be on the sportsmen and women of Britain achieving great things and if offshore sailing were classified as an Olympic sport, surely Brian Thompson and the crew would be on course for gold.

Track Banque Populaire V's progress towards the finish line here.

Latest update from Brian Thompson

Going through the Sargasso Sea today - there is weed everywhere...

We have not caught any of this weed on our foils, though last night we caught a plastic bag on the leeward rudder. We had to furl the gennaker, head upwind to slow down, then go backwards to clear the bag, then unfurl the gennaker and set off again..

But what is a plastic bag doing in the middle of the Atlantic? Someone must have thrown it off a vessel - not good. Like all racing boats, we keep every bit of non food or paper items till we get back to land.

Not much wildlife out here that we have seen at these speeds..

Wind is picking up today, now it's double yesterday's wind. We have18 knots and we are in the high 20's of boatspeed. Running downwind with full main, medium gennaker and staysail..

Still fantastic sailing conditions around the High Pressure system, and after what may be our final gybe this afternoon, we are heading more towards the Old World of Europe than the New World. Good news!

Yesterday evening in the lighter wind Pym and Manu made a thorough inspection of all the watertight compartments on the boat, and Florent went to the top of the mast and down again to completely check the mast. Pym and Florent have been tireless this whole voyage, they have always been on top of all the little maintenance jobs around the boat..

So from the West a cold front approaches, and the tightening of the isobars will slowly increase our wind speed during the night. But the plan is to always stay ahead of the front and in the optimum wind speed for us. We should be able to fine tune our position to do this. That's the wonder of the latest weather models from the US and Europe, of the routing software on board, and of having an extremely fast boat that can keep up with a speeding low pressure system!

Last night was incredible for the stars - even with half a moon shining. It was another great dawn and sunrise at the end of the night too. Our watch is the lucky one currently, having sunset and sunrise on our on watch times.

Anyway, it's time to prepare another freezedried dinner party for 14 this evening.

And the mighty Banque Populaire is now heading for the barn!

Brian