In the rooster wake of PlayStation’s annihilation of one of the most durable passage records, Ambrose Light to The Lizard, the World Sailing Speed Record Council (WSSRC) has launched its own website, www.sailspeedrecords.com

The website features ratified records for passages, ocean races, 24-hour runs, round the world records, west-east Transatlantic record and all the other major records up for grabs. There is also a section explaining the rules that apply inshore and off, relevant publications, record news and upcoming events.

The WSSRC was founded by the International Yacht Racing Union (now the International Sailing Federation) in 1972 to provide an impartial body to standardise record-making on the water. Initially the body dealt exclusively with inshore records timed over a 500-metre distance but in 1988, the WSSRC took over offshore records too.

With record attempts proliferating, the WSSRC now has a full-time secretariat and members drawn from Australia, France, Great Britain and the USA. With the Volvo Ocean Race about to head into the Southern Ocean, the 24-hour monohull distance record will be in jeopardy, and Olivier de Kersauson’s Geronimo will mount a concerted attack on the multihull eastabout circumnavigation record. Great American II is attempting the New York-Melbourne and VDH’s Adrien is chasing the westabout solo circumnavigation record so there’s plenty to keep them busy.