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

(China Daily 03/18/2012 page8)