At fifty-seven days, 13 hours, 34 minutes and six seconds, Francis Joyon’s record for a solo circumnavigation marks not just one of the most outstanding achievements in sailing, but in sport. It ranks him alongside all those who have made quantum leaps in their disciplines and it is the second time in his career he has managed it. Not bad for a 51-year-old who has had to struggle with less sponsorship and spotlight than more famous colleagues.

When he crossed the virtual finish line in the North Atlantic at 39 minutes and 58 seconds past midnight yesterday, the gentle Breton did not just break Dame Ellen MacArthur’s record, he redefined the art of the possible, as Bob Beamon, the long jumper, did with his “leap of the century” in 1968. Joyon took more than 14 fewer days in his 97ft IDEC II than MacArthur needed in B&Q three years ago.

There was a small fleet out to meet Joyon as he came in yesterday morning, having slept at sea after finishing. The attention forced him to gybe metres from cargo boats and fishing trawlers in busy shipping lanes. Two thousand people lined the dock, a low-key reception compared with the scenes that greeted MacArthur’s arrival in Falmouth, Cornwall.

Joyon has been far more media-shy than the diminutive MacArthur but history will cast in a proper light his feat, as it does his former record in 2004, when, with a more limited budget and no routing or support from a shore crew, he took the first IDEC around the world 20 days faster than had been achieved. At the time many thought Joyon insane even to contemplate such a risky attempt in a 20-year-old 90ft trimaran.

MacArthur beat Joyon’s record by 32 hours in 2005. But this time Joyon covered more than 26,000 nautical miles at an average speed of 19.09 knots, four knots faster than MacArthur. His record is closer to the crewed circumnavigation record – with a crew of 13, Orange 2 took 50 days and 16 hours 18 months ago – than MacArthur’s former mark.

But the modest Joyon is the last person to think his record unbeatable. He felt that he had lost two days after having to slow down and go up the mast four times in five days because of the loosening of a pin holding his starboard shroud that threatened to dismast him a week ago.

But that was his only significant problem on the boat designed by Nigel Irens and Benoît Cabaret, who also designed B&Q. The size of Joyon’s boat was certainly a big factor, but the size of the man, his heart and experience were others. Thomas Coville, his fellow Frenchman, set out three weeks later, in a sister ship from the same designers that was even bigger at 105ft, but had to push Sodeb’O perhaps too hard to keep pace and made it only to Cape Town before his boat failed.

Joyon was fortunate with the weather, at least for the first half of his voyage until he entered the Pacific, but he also made his own luck. Joyon took enormous satisfaction at making the most environmentally friendly of record attempts. By stripping his boat bare, by going for simplicity and the fewest things to break, he gave himself the best chance to fix anything. He also apparently managed to strip the weight down to about 11 tonnes – MacArthur’s boat weighed 9.8 tonnes despite being 22ft shorter.

Joyon carried no generator and ran his battery from a combination of a wind generator, solar energy and a methanol fuel cell. “There was no engine running, which was nice, and it is a satisfaction knowing you can go around the world with the minimum impact on the environment,” Joyon said. “Imagine circling the world on a windsurf board. The project is built on respecting the elements.”

This time Joyon had weather routing, from the redoubtable Jean-Yves Bernot, but did not have the power to run satellite communication so kept to two e-mails every day.

Joyon did not rule out a future record attempt, unlike in 2004 when he said he would never get in a boat again. But even if someone emerges to take the record, Joyon has shown them how.

Great globetrotters

How the solo circumnavigation record has progressed

1968-69 Robin Knox-Johnston, GB, Suhaili, 313 days

1985-86 Dodge Morgan, US, American Promise, 150 days

1989-90 Titouan Lamazou, Fr, Ecureuil D’Aquitane II, 109 days

1996-97 Christophe Auguin, Fr, Sceta Calberson, 105 days

2000-01 Michel Desjoyeaux, Fr, PRB, 93 days

2004 Francis Joyon, Fr, IDEC, 72 days

2005 Ellen MacArthur, B&Q, 71 days

2008 Joyon, IDEC II, 57 days