There is a new world record for the fastest sail around Ireland.
American sailor Lloyd Thornburg broke the previous world record by just over an hour and 45 minutes.
Thornburg and his crew – including Ireland’s Damian Foxall and co-skipper, the UK’s Brian Thompson – set off from Dún Laoghaire at 3.09pm on Wednesday and returned there just after 4am this morning.
The crew said they were exhausted but that it was worth every second to break the record.
Thornburg said: “You really appreciate how beautiful this island is when you see it from the coast-side. The first time we came here was when we took part in the Volvo Round Ireland Yacht race last June.
“We had to come back and do it again and setting a new world record made it all the more worthwhile. It was intense but we’d do it again tomorrow, and we will be back.”
The latest record comes just weeks after Lloyd and his Phaedo 3 crew won the Round Island Race in the UK.
They smashed Ben Ainslie’s record, setting a new record of just two hours 23 minutes and 23 seconds, for going around the Isle of Wight.
The full record-setting crew on board for the race were:
Lloyd Thornburg – helm,
Brian Thompson – Co-Skipper,
Miles Seddon – Navigator,
Damian Foxall – Bow,
Paul Allen – Trim,
Sam Goodchild – Trim,
Henry Bomby – Grinder,
Fletcher Kennedy – Grinder
