Having returned to Norfolk, Virginia from Antigua, Steve Fossett and his crew aboard PlayStation are on standby awaiting a weather pattern to attempt the 24hr sailing record.

Fossett and his 125ft maxi-cat PlayStation have twice captured the record, once in February 1999 with a distance of 580.23 nm, and again in October 2001 at 687.17 nm. But he is now hoping to knock Maiden2, the world speed record holder, off her perch. The current record, which was set last year, is 694.78 nm.

One of PlayStation’s most recent successes is the breaking the Round Britain and Ireland record in October last year with a time of just four days, 16 hours, nine minutes and 36 seconds at sea. With an average boat speed of 15.93 knots over the officially recognised course of 1,787 nautical miles, they managed to beat Maiden2’s previous record by 54 minutes and 47 seconds.