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illbruck Challenge set the record during leg seven of the Volvo Ocean Race when they achieved a 24-hour run of 484 nautical miles on April 29-30.

The crew will now receive certificates from the World Sailing Speed Record Council (WSSRC) acknowledging their achievement. The WSSRC is a Council of sailing's governing body, the International Sailing Federation (ISAF).

The World Record will be acknowledged at the prize giving for leg seven of the Volvo Ocean Race on May 23 in La Rochelle. After the record-breaking run, illbruck went on to win leg seven of the Volvo Ocean Race from Annapolis, MD, USA to La Rochelle on May 9 and is now a solid eight points ahead of nearest rival, Assa Abloy.

The measurement for the record is made between two GPS positions over any 24-hour period. The 24-hour monohull world record was previously held by Bernard Stamm on the Open 60 Armor Lux with 467.70 nautical miles. The illbruck monohull world record also sets a new V.O. 60 class record,
previously held by Team SEB.

On arrival in La Rochelle after their record-breaking leg, skipper John Kostecki was almost speechless, "It is awesome, and breaking it (the record) by so much. Every one on our team did a great job. We prepared the boat properly; we had no serious breakdowns during the 24 hours in our record run. The boat was going fast and the crew was working the boat hard and we made the right sail calls. We positioned ourselves properly in the Gulf Stream and everything worked out perfectly for us. We had the
perfect weather and everything clicked.

"To be honest we weren't thinking about it too much, and after 24 hours we looked at the miles that we had accomplished and it was there, and we then extended the record. It was a great moment for us and everybody is
excited about it. Everybody is really happy, a great record to break and on top of it we broke it by more than a little bit."

Leg eight of the Volvo Ocean Race will start from La Rochelle at 17h00 local time on May 25th. The fleet is expected to arrive in Gothenburg on May 31st after completing this 1075 nautical mile stage.


Check out other records currently in progress or almost ready to go, at www.sailing.org/Article_content.asp?ArticleID=2346