French sailor Yoann richomme broke the record of the longest distance covered by a monohull in 24 hours. He clocked 1,021.7 km (551.84 nautical miles) during the Vendee Globe race, a solo non-stop around-the-world race.

Nicolas Lunven set the record of 546.64 nautical mile a week before Richomme, 41 sailed at a speed of average 23 knots five miles further than his French counterpart.

Richomme, who is sailing a Paprec Arkea monohull sailboat, is currently fourth in the standings behind British Sam Goodchild (fourth) and Frenchmen Sebastien Sim and Charlie Dalin (fourth).

Richomme uploaded a video on Tuesday where he enjoyed the ideal conditions, as the wind speed accelerated to almost 30 knots.

I don't even know the record of Nicolas Lunven. "We'll see. Maybe we don't have enough time to do it," said he from his cockpit.

He said, "It is crazy and you will never tire of it" as he raced his yacht across the Atlantic Ocean.

The World Sailing Speed Record Council has not yet ratified the record.

Richomme, as of Wednesday morning at 1000 GMT, was 31.81 miles behind Goodchild.

The Vendee Globe, a non-stop, solo sailing race around world that starts and finishes in Les Sables-d'Olonne, France, is a solo sailing race.

The route spans about 24,000 nautical mile, and sailors are forced to deal with some of the harshest and most extreme conditions on the open seas. Christian Radnedge edited the story by Rohith Naair, who reported from Bengaluru.

(source: Reuters)