In the last 24 hours, I managed to brush my teeth a few times, sleep pretty well; get some work done. Meanwhile... Somewhere in the Indian Ocean, this guy, alone, on this boat, sailed 613.54 miles at an average speed of 25.85 knots, setting the new 24-hour solo sailing record.

Francis Joyon, aboard his 97-foot trimaran, IDEC, rounded the Cape of Good Hope on Saturday, 15 days after leaving Brest, France. (For record followers, that's an average speed of 20.12 knots over the 7,400 miles he sailed. Alone). After posting some close-to-the 24-hour record days, he put the pedal to the metal once he rounded the Cape.

The previous 24-hour solo sailing record was 602.40 miles, set in 2006 by Yvan Bourgnon, on the trimaran Brossard, at a 25.76 knot average. To get really scary, the crewed 24 hour record is 766.8 nautical miles – an average of 31.95 knots.

For curious (and worried) non-record-obsessed sailors, Joyon's boat is reported to have an automatic system that triggers the release of the main and jib sheets if the boat reaches a certain heel angle, allowing him to sleep without the risk of capsizing. There is also an alarm which sounds when boatspeed exceeds 30 knots. Joyon is on a mission to break the around-the-world solo-sailing record set by Ellen MacArthur in 2005 who circled the globe in 71 days. So far, he is four days ahead of that record.

Meanwhile... Somewhere in North America: Brush, floss, rinse. Repeat. And following Joyon here

Photo by J.M. Liot/ DPP. Courtesy of IDEC.