Francis Joyon left New York bay last night to begin his attempt to break the single-handed Atlantic record. He crossed the starting line at Ambrose Light today at 08:42’26” GMT.

Laurent Bourgnon on Primagaz holds the current single-handed record from New York to the Lizard (theoretical distance calculated by the WSSRC at 2,925 miles) in seven days, two hours, 34 minutes and 42 seconds in June 1994.

Aboard the IDEC trimaran Francis Joyon must reach the Lizard before 7 July at 11:16’08” GMT to beat Laurent Bourgnon’s record.