 ABN Amro Two logged 558 nautical miles in 24 hours |
Sailing's 24-hour distance record fell twice after ABN Amro Two logged 558 and then 563 nautical miles on leg two of the Volvo Ocean Race to Melbourne. French skipper Sebastien Josse and his young crew bettered the mark of 546 nautical miles, set by ABN Amro One's more experienced team on leg one.
Josse's boat averaged 23.3 knots in the Southern Ocean but they still trail ABN Amro One, with Pirates back in third.
Brasil 1 has rejoined the race after repairs to a damaged hull.
"The boys are absolutely stoked with cracking the 550 mark although we don't want to celebrate too soon as the guys around us are going pretty damn fast as well," said ABN Amro Two's British navigator Simon Fisher.
"It has been an awesome 24 hours though, phenomenal speeds but safe and under control - a testament to how incredible this new class [of boat] is. What an awesome race."
ABN Amro One skipper Mike Sanderson said: "Normally it would be a sad day to have to hand something like this over, but we are genuinely very excited for you guys."
Speeds are high across the fleet as the yachts head east, with Paul Cayard's Pirates achieving 540 nautical miles and Movistar recording 509 nm.
But ING Real Estate Brunel is now over 800 nm behind after suffering damage to the mast track on which the sail is hoisted.
Brasil 1 skipper Torben Grael stopped racing on Friday to return to Port Elizabeth but is back at sea, 2,400 miles adrift.
"The team is in very good spirits now and the boat is behaving very well with the repair," Grael said.
"The reinforcement that has been done should stop it happening again and we expect to be in Melbourne before the end of the month."
The new breed of Volvo 70 yachts have received criticism after a number of boats in the race have suffered structural damage or problems with their canting keel systems.
But on Tuesday Sanderson defended the new design.
"Everyone called for a more exciting boat, both the public and the sailors, and guess what, we got it," he said.
"I will happily sit down with anyone and explain to them the thousands of hours that have gone in to the making of Team ABN Amro's keel systems as safe as possible.
"The safety of everyone is at the top of the list no matter how you look at it.
"Every Volvo 70 that has had a problem so far since the first boat was launched in January last year has got back in to port without assistance."
The record has yet to be ratified by the World Sailing Speed Record Council.
MMIX
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Everyone called for a more exciting boat, both the public and the sailors