Van den Heede aims to cut the world record by 10 days

Story Tools

CAPE HORN, Chile -- French solo sailor Jean Luc van den Heede was close to sailing round Cape Horn on his third non-stop round-the-world the "wrong way" record attempt.

Rounding the cape is the first major hurdle for the 57-year-old maths professor and sailing instructor who has made good progress since leaving Brest, France on November 3.

On Thursday he was 4-1/2 days ahead of the record time of 151 days, 19 hours and 54 minutes set by Philippe Monnet in 2000.

Van den Heede, or "VDH," as he is known in his native France, is sailing around the world the

"wrong way", against the prevailing winds and currents.

Rather than surfing at high speed with the constantly circling low-pressure systems, his purpose-built 26-metre (80ft) aluminum monohull Adrien, designed by Gilles Vaton, will spend a large amount of the voyage battling upwind.

Van den Heede described the challenge as "scaling Everest, by the north face."

He has completed four circumnavigations previously: two BOC Challenges with stops (now known as the Around Alone) and two non-stop Vendee Globes, in which he finished third and second.

During the 1995/6 BOC he ran aground on a public beach close to Sydney, Australia when he fell asleep.

His first attempt at the non-stop "wrong way" record in 1999 ended when his boat was holed by an unidentified object in the middle of the Southern Pacific Ocean.

Van den Heede set out again in a new boat, Adrien, in October 2001 only to be thwarted when his keel began to work loose after rounding Cape Horn.

"Last year, Adrien was a bit young, less experienced than me, but all the modifications needed for her to sail well have been made," Van den Heede said.

The first "wrong way" record was set in 1970 by British sailor Chay Blyth in British Steel in 292 days.

Blyth's record stood until 1982 when David Cowper made the circumnavigation in 221 days in his yacht, Ocean Bound. In 1994 Briton Mike Golding reduced the time to 160 days.

Frenchman Philippe Monnet set the current record in 2000, bringing his yacht home in 151 days, 19 hours and 54 minutes.

Van den Heede's ambition was to take 10 days off Monnet's record.

"I am optimistic. Wanting to beat the record by 10 days is in a way a wink at Philippe Monnet who did it in 10 days less than the Englishman Mike Golding. You've got to be ambitious. But then, if I only beat it by three days, I shan't be unhappy," he said.

The solo record for the "right way" around was 93 days set by Michel Desjoyeaux in the 2000 Vendee Globe.

The fully-crewed non-stop round-the-world record was 64 days set by Bruno Peyron in 2002.