Fedor Konyukhov, 64, set off from Western Australia on Tuesday after waiting more than a month with his team for the right conditions.
The priest aims to get back there within 13 days - the current world record set by the late Steve Fossett in 2002.
The 30,000 mile journey will take him over the Pacific Ocean, South America, the Atlantic Ocean, South Africa and the Indian Ocean before his arrival back in Australia.
Conditions will be difficult, with temperatures dropping as much as -40 degrees celsius and sleep only possible for four hours a night in intermittent bursts.
Mr Konyukhov has experience though: he's climbed Mount Everest, walked to both the North and South Poles and rowed the Pacific Ocean (below).
