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After the disappointment of having to scrap yesterday's Cowes-St Malo record attempt due to excessive weather, Skipper Steve Fossett's 125' Maxi-Catamaran PlayStation and her 13 person crew set out from Empress Dock, Southampton yesterday morning with a target - to reclaim the traditional Isle of Wight 'Round the Island' record Fossett (USA) had held since 1994 - but which was broken in June of this year by Rodney Pattison (GB) and Francis Joyon (Fr) on the 60' trimaran Dexia Eure et Loire (3 hours 10 minutes).

They achieved their goal, with a new record of 2 hours 33 mins 55 secs, over 36 minutes faster than the previous mark (pending ratification by the WSSRC).

When Steve set the prior mark (3 hours 35 minutes) aboard the trimaran Lakota his crew included Ben Wright, Dave Scully and Helena Darvelid - all of whom were on PlayStation today.

"This is a special satisfaction for all of us. Back in 1994 we thought the best conditions would be a north wind - and today we had really excellent conditions. We saw 39 kts top speed on the back side of the island.

Wind was between 25-30 kts the whole way. We needed 1 tack (at the Needles) and 1 gybe (at Bembridge) all the way around".

Navigator Stan Honey: " This was a perfect race. The boat was great, the crew were sharp, and we had great conditions."

PlayStation's Crew

Steve Fossett (USA) Skipper
Stan Honey (USA) Navigator
Ben Wright (AUS)
Shaun Biddulph (UK)
Dave Scully (USA)
Peter Hogg (NZ)
Chris Tibbs (UK)
Tom Swift (GER)
Paul Hakes (NZ)
Brad Cavanagh (USA)
Helena Darvelid (UK/SWE)
Pascal Blouin (FRA)
Steve Hammond (UK)

As for the Cowes-St Malo Channel Record, Steve advised that no suitable weather pattern was on the horizon for the next week " so we'll all go home now and keep a watch out for another opportunity this season."