American Brad Van Liew, Class 2 fleet leader of the Around Alone 2002-03, has shattered the 50ft monohull 24 hour as he entered the Eastern Hemisphere on Tommy Hilfiger Freedom America.

Starting at 0300 UTC on 23 November and running through 0300 UTC on 24 November, Van Liew logged 345.03 miles on his solo journey. This qualifies as the top mileage ever recorded for a 50ft monohull vessel under sail, solo or crewed. He toppled the previous record of 333.6m set by J.P. Mouligné, previous 1998/9 Around Alone winner of Class 2, by more than 11 miles during an exhilarating weekend of sailing across the Prime Meridian (0 degrees longitude).

Leg 2 of the Around Alone which started from Torbay 41 days ago, has sent Van Liew through a myriad of conditions at sea, and through every hemisphere of the planet. He has pounded through hefty headwinds and violent seas, wallowed at the equator, and endured massive squalls that socked him sideways in the Doldrums. At one point Van Liew crash gybed laying Tommy Hilfiger Freedom America flat on her side to be greeted by the seven-foot erect dorsal fin of a whale. Next was a daring climb up the 80ft mast for repairs.

Brad Van Liew is expected to arrive into Cape Town, South Africa on Wednesday 27 November, to take first place in Class 2 for the second leg of Around Alone 2002-03.