Joyon biography

Francis Joyon (born 28 May 1956) is a French professional sailboat racer and yachtsman. Joyon and his crew currently hold the Jules Verne Trophy for circumnavigation, on IDEC SPORT (40 days, 23 hours, 30 minutes and 30 seconds), nearly five days less than the previous reference time.^[1] He held the record for the fastest single-handed sailing circumnavigation from 2008 to 2016.

Although previously well known as an offshore sailor, Joyon's real leap to international prominence came in February 2004 when the Breton became the fastest world solo yachtsman, setting a time of 72 days, 22 hours, 54 minutes and 22 seconds, over 20 days faster than the previous record for circumnavigation.

During the record run, he sailed more than 28,000 nautical miles (51,900 km) at an average speed of 15.5 knots (28.7 km/h) on the 27 metres (89 ft) IDEC.

IDEC, formerly known as Sport Elec, had previously taken 71 days to win the Jules Verne Trophy