Around the world in the wrong way

The environmentally-conscious sailor wanted to restore an old multihull and equip it (sails, electronics, etc.) with second-hand material. Remember that this trimaran, opportunely renamed Use it Again, allowed its former skipper to beat the solo non-stop round-the-world record back in 2005 (in a time of 71 d 14 h 18 min 33 s). This record was to be beaten by Francis Joyon, then Thomas Coville and later François Gabart. But that isn’t the challenge that interests Romain Pilliard: he has just announced a departure in the fall with the aim of setting a new two-handed time for going non-stop around the world the wrong way. The goal is of course to beat the time of 122 days 14 hrs 03 min set by Jean-Luc Van den Heede in 2004. This record to be beaten is one of the few still held by a monohull - the previous time set in 2001 by Philippe Monet of 151 d 19 h 54 min is the only one achieved by a multihull out of the five official records. To date, no attempt has been made by a crewed boat.