Peyron set the record of 64 days 8 hours 37 minutes and 24 seconds in May this year on the 110ft catamaran Orange.

The boat will be renamed Kingfisher 2 when the official handover takes place in October and will be branded in the colours of B&Q and Castorama.

MacArthur was delighted at the prospect of taking the existing record-holder on a second voyage around the world.

"We now have an excellent boat for our challenge on the Jules Verne record next winter.

The attempt on the record over the 25,000-mile course will take place at some point between December 2002 and February 2003.

A team of 10 international sailors, handpicked by MacArthur, will be facing competition from other challengers for Peyron's record.

"There is no doubt Bruno has set a fast record, but there will probably be four campaigns out there next winter all with a good chance of breaking it by as much as another five days.

"We'll have time for some small improvements to the boat compared with the recent attempt, notably in the sail inventory, and we're all going to be pushing that bit harder as well.

"Just to complete the Jules Verne course is in itself a big thing - history shows that less than half the attempts have even made it around the globe. It's a tough challenge," MacArthur said.

MacArthur competes in the solo transatlantic race the Route du Rhum aboard the monohull Kingfisher in November before preparing for the Jules Verne record attempt.