The 100ft Canting Keel Maxi Leopard 3 has broken its own record for a 24-hour run, covering 495 nautical miles. The previous record stood at 466.4NM.
The record is in a special category for craft with powered winches, and doesn't come close to some of the other records on boats where humans work the lines by hand.
The monohull record outright is still held by Torben Grael's Ericsson 4 team who covered 596.6nm at an average speed of 24.85 knots during the last Volvo Ocean Race.
Frenchman Thomas Coville blasted through 628.5 nautical miles in 24 hours on his 105ft trimaran Sodebo, averaging 26.2 knots in the process.
But the absolute mac daddy of them all is held by Pascal Bidegorry in his monstrous 131ft trimaran Banque Populaire 5. Bidegorry travelled 908.2 nautical miles in one day, and with an average of 37.84 knots you can only imagine what his top speed was.
The World Sailing Speed Record Council announces the ratification of a new World Record for ICAP Leopard.
Record: Monohull. 24 hours under rule 21.c
Yacht: ICAP Leopard. 100ft Monohull
Name: Mike Slade and 20 crew
Dates: 31st May to the 1st June 2010.
Start time: 05.00; 31/05/10
Finish time: 05.00; 01/06/10
Elapsed time: 24 hours
Distance: 495.1 NM
Average speed: 20.6 kts
Comments: Previous record: 466.4nm 19.4 kts. May 08 Leopard. Mike Slade GBR
