[Updated with video + photos] Lending Club 2 has shattered the 635-nautical mile Newport to Bermuda sailing record, arriving in Bermuda at around 2am this morning [April 20] to set a new time of 23 hours, 9 minutes, 52 seconds.

Renaud Laplanche and co-skipper Ryan Breymaier, and the crew of the 105’ trimaran Lending Club 2, successfully achieved their goal of establishing a new world sailing speed record for the course, which started from Castle Hill Lighthouse, in Newport, Rhode Island and ended in Bermuda.

Lending Club 2 after arriving in Bermuda early this morning

The new record, subject to ratification by the World Sailing Speed Record Council [WSSRC], is 23 hours, 9 minutes, 52 seconds at an average speed of 27 knots.

It was only four days ago that the WSSRC ratified Lending Club 2’s record-setting passage of early April from Cowes to Dinard [across the English Channel] to confirm their place in the sailing record books; Guinness World Records has also confirmed that they will include the record.

That 138-nautical mile passage was completed in 5 hours and 15 minutes – 8 minutes faster than the previous record which had stood since 2002.

Until today, the record for the Newport to Bermuda passage had belonged to the late adventurer Steve Fossett for 15 years. Fossett’s record time of 38 hours, 35 minutes and 53 seconds was achieved on the 125’ catamaran Playstation in 2000 at an average speed of 16 knots.

Update 5.28am: Video of the sailors arriving and talking about their record-setting journey

“Steve Fossett was a great sailor who I had the honor to sail with on Playstation,” said Breymaier, a member of the Royal Ocean Racing Club. “We are very happy to honor his memory with such a fast time!

“He would have been content to see his mark bettered with such a great time. We’re thrilled with the record we set today – it’s fantastic to have the wind at our back as we head to the Transpac.”

Laplanche chartered the the 105-foot Lending Club 2 for the 2015 season with the express goal of conquering three speed sailing records: Cowes to Dinard, Newport to Bermuda and the 2,225-mile Transpac [Los Angeles to Honolulu] race.

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