Idec, the 90ft trimaran in which Francis Joyon is set to break the world singlehanded speed record, has been holed. The Frenchman who set off 69 days ago on 22 November discovered, two days ago, water coming in the starboard hull through a hole in the side. Interestingly though, Joyon doesn’t know how it happened although he believes it must have been a pointed object to make such a clean cut.

Having carried out emergency repairs Joyon chatted from the middle of the Atlantic: “I am at 23 degrees 41N and 33degrees 02W finally I can continue to make progress tonight, there is still a bit of wind. I have put an electric pump in to try and tackle the leak problem. The hole shouldn’t get any bigger and I’m keeping an eye on it, there is nothing really worrying.”

Yesterday Joyon was less than 2,000 miles from home, south-west of the Canaries and aiming to beat, by 20 days, Michel Desjoyeaux’s the 93-day record set during the 2000-01 Vendee Globe race.

Current Position at 30/01/2004 – 09:45

Long: 31 37.00 W

Lat: 32 14.00 N