Nicolas Lunven, skipper of the IMOCA Holcim-PRB has set a new 24-hour record for a single-handed monohull (pending official certification by the World Sailing Speed Record Council).

Lunven has covered an incredible 546.6 miles in 24 hours sailing solo in the Vendée Globe.

This breaks the previous record set by fellow Vendée Globe entrant Thomas Ruyant of 539.58nm, during the Retour à la Base race earlier this year (an average speed of 22.48kts).

Nico Lunven on Holcim-PRB has set a new 24-hour solo sailing record in the Vendée Globe. Photo: Adrien Nivet / Polaryse

Nico Lunven: bold navigator

Nico Lunven is taking part in his first Vendée Globe and is currently ranked 5th in the 40-boat fleet.

Known for his navigation and routing expertise, in the early stages of the Vendée Globe, Lunven confidently took a radical westerly route.

On the second night of the race, which started on Sunday 10 November, he split away from the fleet at Cap Finistere, sailing some 180 miles further north-west than the boats which went inside the TSS zone off the Galician coast.

Nico Lunven took a westerly route with Holcim-PRB which rewarded him with a long, fast run south at record page.

This bold move was rewarded with a 550-mile straight line speed run south in north-easterlies. While his rivals had to contend with a series of gybes off the Portuguese coast, Lunven’s approach reduced manoeuvres – and risk in 30-plus knots – preserving both him and the boat while enabling him to clock the highest mileage of the fleet.

Nico Lunven is competing in his first Vendée Globe

Fastest IMOCA in the world

Holcim-PRB is a Verdier-designed IMOCA that had originally been created as a fully crewed boat for The Ocean Race. However, when that team’s plans fell through mid-build, PRB bought the partially constructed hull at Carrington’s in the UK in 2022.

Major modifications were made almost immediately – including sawing off around 4.5m of bow and rebuilding it with a shallower section designed for more offwind and all-round performance.

The original Ocean Race route had included some long upwind legs to China, which were later scrapped, so the boat was re-optimised for the predominantly downwind Vendée Globe, as well as the long Southern Ocean leg of the 2022 Ocean Race.

Holcim-PRB also set a crewed record on The Ocean Race.

Holcim-PRB has now become the fastest IMOCA in the fleet, also holding the crewed 24-hour distance record. Former skipper Kevin Escoffier and crew covered 640.48 miles in the fifth leg of The Ocean Race in 2023, at an average speed of 26.68 knots.

(In the same leg, Boris Herrmann’s Malizia clocked 640.70 NM – so a longer distance, but not by a sufficient margin to set a new record, according to WSSRC rules. Lunven was part of that crew also.)

Vendée Globe Day 3 leaders

Lunven is currently in 5th place on day 3 of the 2024 Vendée Globe.

The current leader is Yoann Richomme (Paprec Arkéa), just 12 miles ahead of Charlie Dalin (Macif), from British ‘rookie’ and yesterday’s leader Sam Goodchild (Vulnerable) in 3rd. Jérémie Beyou (Charal) is 4th.