ANOTHER NEW WORLD RECORD FOR FOSSETT AND PLAYSTATION
Plymouth-La Rochelle: 16 Hours 41 Mins 40 Secs 

A tired but happy skipper Steve Fossett reported in to Mission Control's early morning shift with the news that he and the 125' maxi-catamaran PlayStation had just set another world record (pending ratification by the WSSRC - World Sailing Speed Record Council) on the Plymouth (UK) to La Rochelle (France) ocean passage. This is Steve and PlayStation's 7th world sailing record set in the last 12 months.

Sailing from Plymouth with a useful (but cold) northeast wind, Steve and his crew of 9 (who will continue to deliver the big catamaran onwards to Marseille for a short Spring sailing programme in the Med), set a time of 16 hours 41 minutes 40 secs on the 355 nautical mile course - an average speed of 21.26 kts - the 3rd fastest of the official world records of the WSSRC. The previous record holder of this passage was the 40' racing tri-maran Netergy.com Challenge (the ex-Mollymawk) - co-skippered by Ross Hobson and Pete Berry in July of 2001. But Pete hasn't lost his record completely - as he is now sailing aboard PlayStation as one of Steve Fossett's two Watch Captains - alongside American Dave Scully. 

Further record attempts planned for this Spring's programme include the TransMediterranean record from Marseilles to Carthage and the Route of Discovery E-W TransAtlantic record from Cadiz to the island of San Salvador in the Bahamas.

The record breaking crew:
Skipper Steve Fossett (USA)
Navigator Chris Tibbs (GB)
Watch Captain Dave Scully (USA)
Watch Captain Pete Berry (GB)
Crew
Brad Cavanagh (USA)
Quentin Dimmer (GB)
Simon Cotter (Ire)
Mark Featherstone (GB)
Richard James (AU)
Dave Thompson (GB)