French yachting great Loïck Peyron on Monday won the transatlantic Route du Rhum yacht race, setting a record time in the process as he crossed the line off the Guadeloupe Caribbean island group, reports FRANCE 24.
Peyron had dominated the race, aided in his quest when leading contender and fellow countryman Thomas Coville crashed his trimaran into a freighter soon after the competition began off France a week ago.
He set a new record for the journey of some 6560 km (3542 miles), clocking in at seven days, 15 hours and eight minutes, shaving more than two hours off the previous mark set by Lionel Lemonchois in 2006.
For Peyron, 54, it was seventh time lucky in the race. He took the lead just six hours out of the French port of Saint-Malo on November 2, after a fierce storm took out Coville and several others.
Peyron said at the time that the seas were "Dantesque".