The 40-meter Maxi Banque Populaire V trimaran crossed the
line of departure on Friday at 2213 GMT, circumnavigating the globe in 45 days,
13 hours and 42 minutes.
"To sail around the world in 45 days you've got to
be at your limits very often," Peyron told reporters shortly after his
trimaran docked in the northwestern French port of Brest amid much fanfare and
huge crowds.
Peyron, 52, said the weather had not always been
favorable and that there had been nerve-wracking moments passing through zones
with many icebergs in the southern hemisphere.
"We had to be very careful going very fast through
the red zones and I had to furrow my brow to calm my young jedis who liked to
go even faster," he said. "I like to go fast but you also have to
know how to go slow." French skipper Franck Cammas had held the previous
record for crossing the globe in 48 days seven hours and 44 minutes in 2010
aboard the Groupama III. He is currently taking partin the multi-stage Volvo
Ocean Race.
The Jules Verne Trophy is a prize for crews who set a record
circumnavigating the globe on a sailboat.
