Setting a record for fastest circumnavigation of the globe is just as hard as it sounds, says skipper Loick Peyron

French sailor Loick Peyron celebrates in January after piloting his crew around the world in 45 days, 3 hrs, 42 mins, 53 secs. It was his fourth completed voyage around the globe. [Fred Tanneau / Agence France-Presse]

Earlier this year, Loick Peyron sailed around the world faster than anyone in history.

How cool is that?

The French skipper reclaimed the Jules Verne Trophy - given for the fastest circumnavigation of the globe in a boat of any size - after he and his crew arrived off the shore of France in the maxi Banque Populaire V on Jan 6.

It had been 45 days, 13 hrs, 42 mins, 53 secs since they set out.

"If you never did that before, you really have to," said the 52-year-old Peyron, who is moonlighting as skipper for the ZouLou crew in the Extreme Sailing Series this year.

Peyron is from a renowned family of sailors - his brother, Bruno, won the Jules Verne Trophy three times.

Peyron has attempted six round-the-world trips, completing four. The challenge, he says, is to keep the boat in one piece. The 40m trimaran travels at speeds of up to 50 knots. Three years ago, his attempt was ruined when his ship's mast broke.

"The main problem, which it's not easy to share, is that if you want to do the (Formula One) Grand Prix with your own car, you will do the same number of laps as the titlists, but you will do that in two hours or maybe three more," Peyron said.

"We all understand with a car it's very tough to go fast all the time, but sometimes you push on your mushroom and go fast for 5 sec or 10 or whatever. Your car can reach 200km, maybe 250 if it's a big car, a classic car. The max speed of a Formula One car should be 350km - that's only a third faster than a classic car. Our boats are six times faster - that's the main difference, which is not easy (to manage)."

Adding to the challenge, the boats sail at those speeds through dangerous waters. Traveling through the South Pacific, the Banque Populaire V's crew suffered a significant setback when it found itself in the middle of an array of icebergs.

More dangerous than the large chunks of ice are the smaller pieces, which are almost impossible to spot with radar or the naked eye, but can still rip apart a boat.

The crew of the Banque Populaire V celebrates after completing its record-setting journey on Jan 7. [Agence France-Presse]

"Nobody can (look for them)," Peyron said. "If you want a guy, you may have a preacher, and he just needs to pray. That's the only thing which can save you. You can't see them, because there are waves moving around all the time. It's like that Russian gun game."

The crew of 14 was divvied up into three four-man shifts, plus Peyron and his navigator. One team works the deck, another is ready to jump in if help is needed, and the third grabs three hours' sleep before rotating back in.

"Off shore sailing, there is no reason to stop," Peyron said. "Since thousands of years ago, all the sailors were not sleeping at night you can't stop. You have to sail, and if it's dark, if it's snowing, if it's blowing - you are sailing, especially if you're racing."

There's no steak and potatoes waiting at the end of the day, either. The crew eats dehydrated rations and uses a machine that converts seawater to freshwater to save space.

"Yeah, I lose weight (on these trips)," Peyron said. "I have a big fault - I'm a smoker, but hopefully I don't smoke at sea. I never bring cigarettes many times, you don't have a cigarette, and you eat more, but at sea, you never eat enough. These boats are so fast so it's very interesting - I need to force myself to eat, but you need to fuel yourself."

The final score for the voyage was a total distance of 29,002 miles at an average speed of 26.51 knots - a grueling pace.

For a man who's crossed the Atlantic 48 times - including 20 by himself - the comparatively laid-back schedule of Extreme Sailing is attractive.

"Whatever the size is, each time you sail, you are learning something - you don't know what, but something," Peyron said.

"If you do a mistake here, you capsize, it could be dangerous. But then you can go back to your room (when it's over), and you are racing only for four hours you can't compare an offshore race with no stops and this one."

The Peyron family enjoys life on the high seas There's a legitimate case to be made that Loick Peyron is the best sailor in the world. There's also a legitimate case to be made he's not the best sailor in his own family. Peyron, who in January finished his world record circumnavigation of the globe in 45 days and change, comes from perhaps the premier sailing family in France. While Loick may hold the Jules Verne Trophy, his older brother Bruno has won it three times in an illustrious career of his own. In 1993, he became the first skipper to make it around the world in fewer than 80 days, and he did it gain in 2002 and 2005. He's made three additional attempts, but damaged equipment ended two voyages in 2004 and one in 2002. Their father was an oil-tanker captain and sailing enthusiast. A third brother, Stephane, once windsurfed across the Atlantic. An uncle, Jean-Yves Terlain, finished second in the single-handed trans-atlantic race in 1972. Loick said his family got him started. "Like a lot of sailors I come from the dinghy area because when you are young you start with small boats like that," he said. "I had the chance to have parents who were doing some cruising in Brittany and France, and I was attracted by the offshore and when I was 19 I did my first Atlantic crossing (alone) on a small boat." After years of competing fiercely with each other, things might be changing. There is even some talk the brothers might try to put together a team to compete at the 2013 America's Cup. - Dusty Lane

Contact the writer at dustylane@chinadaily.com.cn.