Virgin’s Branson tries for sailing record

NEW YORK – British billionaire Sir Richard Branson’s latest adventure is a family affair.

Two of Branson’s children plan to join the 58-year-old chairman of the Virgin Group and a crew of champion sailors in an attempt to break the record for a transAtlantic crossing in a single-hulled sailboat. The current record is 6 days, 17 hours, 52 minutes and 39 seconds.Branson and his crew will sail in a 99-foot (30-metre)super maxi race yacht.Joining Branson is his 23-year-old son Sam and 26-year-old daughter Holly.They plan to set out from Ambrose Light in New York Bay on their way to Lizard Point off the coast of southwest England.Their journey will stretch 3 000 miles (4 828 kilometres) through the frigid North Atlantic, where the crew may need to dodge icebergs.Nampa-APThe current record is 6 days, 17 hours, 52 minutes and 39 seconds.Branson and his crew will sail in a 99-foot (30-metre)super maxi race yacht.Joining Branson is his 23-year-old son Sam and 26-year-old daughter Holly.They plan to set out from Ambrose Light in New York Bay on their way to Lizard Point off the coast of southwest England.Their journey will stretch 3 000 miles (4 828 kilometres) through the frigid North Atlantic, where the crew may need to dodge icebergs.Nampa-AP