New 40-foot circumnavigation record

The World Sailing Speed Record Council announced the establishment of a new around the world singlehanded record in the 40-foot division. Guo Chuan (CHN) sailing the yacht Qing Dao arrived in Qingdao, China to complete the route on April 4, 2013 in an elapsed time of 137 days, 20 hours, 01 minutes, 57 seconds.

Aboard his Class40 yacht, 48-year-old Guo travelled about 21,600 nautical miles, having departed his hometown of Qingdao on November 18.

The previous benchmark by Alain Maignan (FRA) was set in 2007 (185:22:52:52). Additionally, Chuan is the first Chinese sailor to have sailed singlehandedly around the world.