Olympians claim Irish Sea sailing record

Two Olympians have claimed a new record for sailing across the Irish Sea.

Tokyo 2020 silver medallists John Gimson and Anna Burnet sailed from Belfast to Portpatrick in Scotland and back.

They said it took 90 minutes, taking 11 minutes off the previous record.

The pair said they had chosen to sail the ferry route to highlight the importance of the marine industry switching to greener, more sustainable power.

"We spend a lot of time in ports in our sport, and when there's a lot of ferries about, the diesel fumes are awful," Gimson, from Congleton, said.

The Nacra 17 boat the pair sailed at the Tokyo Olympics rises above the water on a hydrofoil.

Gimson said that technology, which reduces the drag on a vessel's hull, was becoming more commercially available and could be paired with electric propulsion.

The sailors work with fellow Olympian Iain Percy, who is CEO of a company developing vessels with electric propulsion systems.

Speaking after their crossing, beating the arrival of Storm Agnes, Burnet, from Hammersmith, said: "The waves were really big... it was pretty full on - we were happy to get back to dry land safely."

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