Thomas Coville sailed past the Lizard at 07:17:40GMT this morning to set a new record for the west-to-east singlehanded crossing of the Atlantic.

On his 32m long maxi trimaran Sodebo he set a time of 5 days, 19 hours, 29 minutes and 20 seconds, although this must await ratification by the World Sailing Speed Record Council.

The previous solo record was set by rival Francis Joyon in his previous IDEC trimaran in 2005, with a time of 6 days, 4 hours, 1 minute and 37 seconds.