He and his crew of 12 aboard the maxicatamaran PlayStation knocked off another speed Speed #speedsailing sailing milestone this morning, capturing Florence Arthaud’s 11 year old (set in August 1991 on the 60’ trimaran Pierre 1er) TransMediterranean (458 nm -Marseille-Carthage) sailing record Record #sailingrecord . A previous attempt by Steve and crew (May 4-5) fell 2 hours short. But a new weather opportunity to ’sail the Mistral’ emerged earlier this week - and Steve quickly put out the call to his crew of 12 to reach La Ciotat Thursday (they crossed the start line at 14:58:46 GMT).

Steve Fossett: "We finished at 09:45 GMT this morning for a time of 18h 46m 55s - an average speed Speed #speedsailing of 24.38 kts. The previous record Record #sailingrecord by Florence Arthaud was 22h 9m 56s for average of 20.66 kts."

Pending ratification by the WSSRC, Steve (sailing on both Lakota and PlayStation) will now hold 9 of the 10 fastest "outright" world records of sailing - including the 6 fastest - plus the 24 Hour Record. The new Marseille-Carthage mark will become the second fastest in the book - after PlayStation’s extraordinary October 2001 4-1/2 day TransAt mark of 25.78 kts.

Steve Fossett: "It was extraordinary sailing - and a hard working trip - with 25 sail changes. Everyone did a great job - and our two newest crew members Howie Hamlin and Trevor Baylis - who are current world champions in 18’ Skiffs - proved to be hot sailors."

The TransMed record crew:

 Steve Fossett (USA) Skipper & Watch Captain
 Chris Tibbs (GB) Navigator
 Dave Scully (USA) Watch Captain
 Trevor Baylis (CAN) Watch Captain
 Quentin Dimmer (GB) Crew
 Pete Berry (GB) Crew
 Brad Cavanagh (USA) Crew
 Richard James (AU) Crew
 Dave Thompson (GB) Crew
 Simon Cotter (IRE) Crew
 Claire Bailey (GB) Crew
 Howie Hamlin (USA) Crew
 Mark Featherstone (GB) Crew

 Information Fossett Challenge / www.fossettchallenge.com