Hurtling around the Caribbean at speeds in excess of 30 knots and topping out nearer 40, often barely a boat length apart, the epic duel between MOD70s Concise 10 and Phaedo3 came to a conclusion after 32 hours of hot racing earlier this week. Lloyd Thornburg's MOD70 Phaedo3, co-skippered by Brian Thompson with Damian Foxall onboard crossed the finish line at Fort Charlotte in an elapsed time of 31 hours, 59 minutes, 04 seconds, breaking their own multihull race record set last year by 1 hour 34 minutes 26 seconds.

Barely out of sight of each other the entire race, Tony Lawson's MOD70 Concise 10, skippered by Ned Collier Wakefield was just 9mins 52 seconds behind. The superyachts in Falmouth Harbour heralded the arrival of Phaedo3 and Concise 10 with a cacophony of horns as hundreds of race fans gathered dockside to cheer the two teams to the dock.

Hurtling around the Caribbean at speeds in excess of 30 knots and topping out nearer 40, often barely a boat length apart, the epic duel between MOD70s Concise 10 and Phaedo3 came to a conclusion after 32 hours of hot racing. Lloyd Thornburg's MOD70 Phaedo3, co-skippered by Brian Thompson crossed the finish line at Fort Charlotte in an elapsed time of 31 hours, 59 minutes, 04 seconds, breaking their own multihull race record set last year by 1 hour 34 minutes 26 seconds.

Barely out of sight of each other the entire race, Tony Lawson's MOD70 Concise 10, skippered by Ned Collier Wakefield was just 9mins 52 seconds behind. The superyachts in Falmouth Harbour heralded the arrival of Phaedo3 and Concise 10 with a cacophony of horns as hundreds of race fans gathered dockside to cheer the two teams to the dock.

Lloyd Thornburg, Owner/Skipper Phaedo3: "Since we set the record last year we have got a lot better; our manoeuvres are improved and we are sailing a better course. We made a few mistakes out there which we will correct next time but this is the best group of sailors I have sailed with. There is nobody I would rather sail with than this group of guys; I am so happy. We weren't thinking about the record at any stage because we were so focused on match racing Concise. We had to dig deep and they were doing the same and they gave us a hell of a race. We were nervous and never comfortable."

Pete Cumming Phaedo3 Trimmer: "Upwind we were struggling to answer some of their questions. They were higher and faster than us and no matter what we did we found it hard to match them, but by the last beat we had figured it out. But they gave us a big scare because if you find a speed edge in these boats it is not a fraction of a knot, it is more like two knots. Those guys are getting faster all the time, they are smart guys and they put up a good fight and we will need to keep upping our game."

Brian Thompson Phaedo3 Co-Skipper: "I didn't know we had broken the record until we had crossed the line. Breaking the record by over an hour and a half just shows you that we have come along and improved because the weather was lighter this year. Also with the help of our fellow competitor Concise, they pushed us really hard, so we went even faster than last year. The Phaedo Team is so much more improved than last year and that includes Lloyd who is now a really good helmsman. He did the start, the first beat and much of the race. He is a superb driver and this is a tricky boat to sail. This is a great win and to come back to this crowd is special for me because I grew up sailing in Antigua and I have seen it develop, so to have all the horns blaring on arrival was a magic moment."

Michel Desjoyeaux, Concise 10: " The level of sailing of Team Concise is pretty good. They have only been sailing the boat for six month and they are learning very fast. So we have been working on some special functions and tasks, including sail trim and balance of the boat. Phaedo3 won the race, congratulations to them, but we had some opportunities to close the gap which we took but it was not enough. It was a good contest and if you don't want to be part of that, then you shouldn't race.

Ned Collier Wakefield, Skipper Concise 10: "That was a brilliant race but also a frustrating result. They have a downwind mode that we haven't got and vice-versa upwind. We certainly learnt a lot and it was great sailing with Michel (Desjoyeaux), so lots to learn from this. We did 600 miles in 31 hours and we are still in shorts and t-shirts - a bit damp, but it has been fantastic! These boats are absolutely incredible, amazing machines; to chew up the miles like that and be back for beers on the second day is unbelievable. Many thanks to the RORC for laying on a great race and thanks to all of the people that support us."

The world record beating multihull skipper Lloyd Thornburg has entered his MOD70 Phaedo 3 in the 2016 Volvo Round Ireland Yacht Race. The boat is currently in Barbados for the Mount Gay Round Barbados Race.

It is the second MOD70 to enter the race and follows Ned Collier-Wakefield who confirmed Team Concise last November.

Thornburg has been campaigning his MOD 70 Phaedo 3 for over a year  and has notched up an incredibly successful run of world records and regatta wins.

This year, after several Caribbean events Thornburg will be heading back to Europe. 

Yesterday, saw the opening of online entries to the 2016 Volvo Round Ireland and ISORA veteran Kuba Szymanski was first to register. Kuba will race his new boat Polished Manx 2 , a First 40.7.

Boats from France, UK and Ireland have been registering thus far with anticipation building that Volvo Round Ireland 2016 will be an epic one.

The MOD 70 Phaedo3 now currently holds four World Sailing Speed Records after the World Sailing Speed Record Council officially ratified all of Phaedo3’s record runs last month.

Below are the official numbers from John Reed of the WSSRC:

Record: Fastnet. Original Course. Outright record.
Yacht: Phaedo 3. MOD 70
Names: Lloyd Thornburg USA and Brian Thompson GBR plus a crew of 5.
Dates:.16th to the 17th September 2015.
Start time: 00;24;44 on 16/09/15
Finish time: 04;07;10 on 17/09/15
Elapsed time: 27 hours 42 minutes and 26 seconds
Distance: 595 NM
Average speed: 21.48 kts kts

Record: Plymouth to La Rochelle. Outright record.
Yacht: Phaedo 3. MOD 70
Names: Lloyd Thornburg USA and Brian Thompson GBR plus a crew of 5.
Dates:.17th September 2015.
Start time: 04;43;23 UTC on 17/09/15
Finish time: 18;48;43 UTC on 17/09/15
Elapsed time: 14 hours 05 minutes and 20 seconds
Distance: 329 NM
Average speed: 23.36 kts

Record: Cowes to Dinard. Outright record.
Yacht: Phaedo 3. MOD 70
Names: Lloyd Thornburg USA and Brian Thompson GBR plus a crew of 5.
Dates:.22nd September 2015.
Start time: 07;47;58 UTC on 22/09/15
Finish time: 12;36;55 UTC on 22/09/15
Elapsed time: 4 hours 48 minutes and 57 seconds
Distance: 138 NM
Average speed: 28.66 kts

Lloyd Thornburg's American MOD 70, Phaedo3, co-skippered by Brian Thompson, crossed the finish line of the 2015 Rolex Middle Sea Race at the Royal Malta Yacht Club to take Multihull Line Honours at 00.09.41 CET on Tuesday 20th October in an elapsed time of 2 days 11 hours 29 minutes and 41 seconds. Lloyd Thornburg, and his elated crew, were greeted at the Royal Malta Yacht Club by Commodore, Godwin Zammit.

After crossing the finish line, Lloyd Thornburg commented dockside at the Royal Malta Yacht Club.

"We were repairing one of the beams the night before the start, we were repairing a bit of damage sustained from setting some of our records, so we didn't get to do our normal practice and preparation.

The start of the race went really well and we had a very nice sail up to Sicily, then in the Messina Strait, we found a wind hole, which was a bit of a battle to get out of. It was a wonderful race with Rambler for much of the way, they made a better call in Messina going inside and it took us a while to get back from that. The conditions were light with lumpy seas, which we don't do so well in but towards the end we finally got our legs and were able to show the speed we are capable of.