HAVING reached a time of life when many men undertake nothing more strenuous than a round of golf, Steve Fossett remains hell-bent on smashing world records.

Yesterday, the millionaire businessman who celebrates his 60th birthday this year, bettered the round-the-world sailing record by almost six days, and he is not stopping there. In June he will attempt to reach a record altitude in a glider and in October he hopes to become the first man to make a solo, non-stop round-the-world flight in an experimental jet aircraft.

The American and his crew of 12 aboard Cheyenne, a 38-metre (125ft) maxi-catamaran, circumnavigated the globe in 58 days, 9 hours and 32 minutes. “I am absolutely euphoric,” Mr Fossett said. “As you can imagine, we are all terribly excited but emotionally drained.” He said the last leg of the journey began slowly, with poor winds, but when Cheyenne crossed the line the crew were battling with strong winds and tides. “It was a very satisfying moment.”

The previous record, set by the Frenchman Bruno Peyron in 2002, was 64 days, 8 hours and 37 minutes. In 1967, when Francis Chichester completed the same voyage alone in Gypsy Moth IV, he was under sail for more than 227 days. Ellen MacArthur’s solo voyage in 2001 took more than 94 days.

The record-breaking crew returned to Britain to a hero’s welcome last night. A small crowd clapped and cheered as Cheyenne was towed into Plymouth just after 10pm.

For one of the two Britons aboard, Mark Featherstone, it was something of a homecoming. Mr Featherstone, 47, has been a lifeboat crewman in Salcombe, Devon, for 18 years.

Brian Thompson, 41, the other Briton in the crew, has participated in setting nine sailing records. He said: “We had a spectacular finish — the sun was out and we went through some enormous waves.”

Mr Thompson, the watch captain, was at the wheel late in February when Cheyenne had to sail blind for several hours after an electrical fault. “It was an interesting change from eight instrument displays to one compass,” he logged.

This was Mr Fossett’s 22nd sailing record. He holds world records in ballooning, gliding and cross-country skiing and other endurance sports.

Mr Fossett had a sheltered childhood, and it was only once his business fortune was secure that he became an adventurer. He drew up a list of physical challenges and since then has been climbing the highest mountains, swimming the widest stretches of water and pushing boats and aircraft to their limits. He swam the English Channel at the third attempt, completed the Iditarod sled race in Alaska and performed the Ironman triathlon in Hawaii.

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