HAMPSHIRE sailor Alex Thomson has broken an unofficial world record while competing in the 2016/17 Vendee Globe.

The Gosport ace travelled 535.34 nautical miles in 24 hours - only to cruelly miss out on it being officially ratified as a world record.

Official rules of the record state it must be broken by one whole mile in order to be recognised – and Thomson's distance fell just short by 259 metres.

This is the second record Thomson has broken during this edition of the Vendee Globe, with the first being the fastest time to the equator in Vendee Globe history - at 9 days, 7 hours and 3 minutes.

Thomson hit an unidentified object over the weekend, and has also broken off part of his starboard foil.

Despite that, he is still leading the fleet - HUGO BOSS being around 84.9 nautical miles ahead of Edmond de Rothschild.

Thomson is determined to be the first British skipper to win the Vendée Globe, a solo non stop around the world race that could take up to 80 days.

No non-Frenchman has ever won the race, which started in the late 1980s.