French sailor smashes solo round-the-world sailing record

French sailor Francois Gabart smashed the previous record for the solo non-stop circumnavigation of the globe on Sunday. Gabart took 42 days, 16 hours, 40 minutes and 35 seconds to finish his circuit of the globe. He completed the journey non-stop, confined to his trimaran sailing yacht since 4 November. Gabart broke the record set by his countryman Thomas Coville last year. Then he sailed to the port of Brest, surrounded by a flotilla of spectator boats, for celebrations. Gabart told reporters at Brest that he had been lucky with the weather. He said if he had not left on November 4, or had left his departure just three hours later, he might not have been so lucky.