Jean Luc Van Den Heede, the Frenchman who’s had three failed attempts at sailing solo around the world from east to west aboard his yacht Adrien, will set sail again in October.

Van den Heede’s last world record attempt came to an abrupt halt at the beginning of January in the middle of the Southern Ocean when his mast came tumbling down. Under jury rig he sailed on to Hobart and spent a month repairing parts of the salvaged mast before setting sail once again, back to France. For this 14,000-mile journey, via Cape Horn, he was joined by his companion Jean Marie Patier, finally arriving in Les Sables d’Olonne on 20 May.

Just before setting foot on land after 77 days at sea, Van Den Heede announced his intent to ‘have another go’. Consequently, he has spent the last five months preparing Adrien for her fourth record attempt. Commenting from the Mini Transat start in La Rochelle where he took time out wish the competitors well, Van Den Heede said: “I will be ready on 26 October. I will then leave as soon as there is a good weather window. I hope to start at the end of the low pressure where there’ll be north-westerlies to push me down to the Trade Winds as soon as possible.”