Record tumbles to team AkzoNobel as it leads fleet towards Cardiff

UPDATE (1000 UTC) : team AkzoNobel provisionally now hold the outright record for the Volvo Ocean Race. They have sailed over 598 nautical miles in 24 hours, surpassing the record (596.6) set by the Volvo 70 Ericsson 4 in 2008.

0630 UTC -- To say conditions have been good for making miles over the past day would be a massive understatement. 

In fact, over the past day, five of the seven teams in the Volvo Ocean Race have roared past the 24 hour distance mark set by Ian Walker's Abu Dhabi Racing in the 2015 race.

The old record for distance sailed in 24 hours on a Volvo Ocean 65 was 550.82 nautical miles, set on the approach to Cape Horn on the last race. 

As of 0630 UTC on Friday, the new record belongs to team AkzoNobel at 588.10 nautical miles, nearly 40 miles better than the old standard. 

(All new records referred to here are provisional and subject to ratification).

"The last 24 hours have been pretty wild," said AkzoNobel skipper Simeon Tienpont on Thursday evening when his team had posted a 575 mile run. Since then, they have added more than 10 miles to the mark.

"We're still ripping along," he said then. "We don't know what the others are doing so that keeps us going as fast as possible."

At the time of the interview, Tienpont had just bested his fellow Dutch skipper Bouwe Bekking, who was the first to break the old record, but only held it momentarily before AkzoNobel blew past, taking the lead on Leg 9 in the process.

And while the Dutch boats have posted the best runs (Team Brunel is at 582 miles), there are five teams in the fleet who have bested the 2015 record, giving an indication of how good the sailing conditions have been over the past 36 hours or so. 

But that doesn't mean it's easy. The boats are skipping over the waves, the hulls slamming down on the peaks with firghtening force. Water is fire-housing along the deck and through the cockpit.

And in the North Atlantic, the water is very cold. Life on board is far from pleasant.

"These are the moments why we do this race," Tienpont said. "It's undescribable. On deck, it's unbelievably wet. But at the same time, to live on the boat, eat, go to the toilet, it's complete idiocy. There's no other sport in the world like this!"

Best 24 hour run as of 0630 UTC on Friday 25 May (provisional)
team AkzoNobel -- 588.10
Team Brunel -- 582.78
Dongfeng Race Team -- 559.40
Vestas 11th Hour Racing -- 557.95
Turn the Tide on Plastic -- 557.77
MAPFRE -- 549.58
SHK/Scallywag -- 544.03

The good times aren't expected to last. The fleet is expected to run into a virtual brick wall over the weekend in the form of a ridge of high pressure with very light winds.

The ETA into Cardiff is still Tuesday.