Category: Courses 2016-2017

Francis Joyon, Alex Pella, Bernard Stamm, Sébastien Audigane, Gwénolé Gahinet and Clément Surtel are about to achieve one of the finest stories in the history of the Jules Verne Trophy.

 

By late today (UTC) they should be able to see the lights of Cape Horn, marking the way out of the Pacific and the entrance into the Atlantic. After shattering the Indian record (4 days, 9 hours and 37 minutes) IDEC SPORT should be rounding the Horn after just 26 days and a few hours. The holder of the Jules Verne Trophy, Banque Populaire V with her crew of fourteen took 30 days 22 hours and 18 minutes to get to the tip of South America.

IDEC SPORT is advancing with the wind from astern and is having to carry out a series of gybes to find the best angle in strong winds, in order to maintain their high speeds. They will be taking a northerly route to avoid the calms, which are appearing in Drake Passage. A final difficulty before leaving the Southern Ocean and returning to the more hospitable waters of the Atlantic and the climb back up to Ushant.

 

Source : www.idecsport-sailing.com

With less than a thousand miles to go to the Horn, IDEC SPORT is charging ahead towards the third and final major cape in the round the world voyage. In a twenty-knot westerly wind, the six men are pushing hard, foot on the accelerator with a series of gybes in this final stretch in the extreme south. This morning sailing at between the 57th and 58th parallel, Francis Joyon, Alex Pella, Sébastien Audigane, Gwénolé Gahinet, Clément Surtel and Bernard Stamm have taken their lead to 1700 miles in this Jules Verne Trophy attempt.

 

Extending their lead by 300 miles since yesterday, Francis Joyon is not hiding the fact that he has a few worries about getting around the Cape. He is expecting light winds and even calms, which would slow them down considerably as they prepare to enter the Atlantic. To deal with this area with all its uncertainties, Francis Joyon and the router Marcel van Triest hope to reach the tip of Tierra del Fuego from the north to benefit from a more favourable air stream. This morning after moving to 57°S to avoid encountering an iceberg or growlers, the red and grey trimaran has already moved back up several degrees of latitude with the wind from astern.

The next 24 hours look tense as they approach the famous cape. The six of them may have clocked up more than fifteen roundings of Cape Horn, but they are all looking forward to getting back to warmer climes and making their way back up the South Atlantic. “This is always a big moment. Our race strategy changes at that moment. We go from what is sometimes close to survival mode to much more comfortable and normal sailing,” explained the skipper of IDEC SPORT, who will be rounding the Cape for the fifth time.

 

Source : www.idecsport-sailing.com

IDEC SPORT will be rounding Cape Horn in a few days from now, so it might seem odd that they are heading so far south. Aboard the red and grey maxi-trimaran, all lights are green for the crew, which is continuing to extend its lead over the round the world record with an advance of 1270 miles this morning.

 

During the night, Francis Joyon and his crew of five carried out a gybe. On the starboard tack, heading SE to pick up some wind allowing them to sail downwind all the way to the exit from the Southern Ocean, there are more gybes ahead.

“We’ll be staying down at 59° S for some time. We’ll be going even further down depending on how the wind shifts. We’re now aiming for a strip of stronger winds to take us downwind to Cape Horn.We can hope for some wind, but we’re going to have to change tack a lot,” Francis Joyon said yesterday afternoon with IDEC SPORT continuing on her way in cold but manageable conditions below an area of high pressure.

So it is not surprising to see them dive into the 60s this morning with agood lead over Banque Populaire V, her virtual rival in the Jules Verne Trophy. In a few hours from now, once they have picked up the SW’ly air stream, they can get a bit further north and sail on a zig-zag course to the Horn at 55°58′ S and 1500 miles ahead of them.

 

Source : www.idecsport-sailing.com

At the start of the 24th day of racing in the remote part of the South Pacific, IDEC SPORT has managed to slide under a low and is advancing in a NW’ly breeze blowing at around fifteen knots in calmer seas. While Francis Joyon and his men have slowed down , the pace is still good as they chase after the Jules Verne Trophy.

 

“There are several weather hurdles ahead of us,” declared the skipper of the red and grey maxi-trimaran. “The high isn’t too much of a problem as we can get around the south. We won’t be that fast, but will get by. It’s closer to the Horn that we risk finding ourselves without any wind.”

There has been a slight slow down today, which is a welcome break for the six men on IDEC SPORT, as they make their way towards the Horn, which is around 2000 miles ahead. Because of the weather uncertainties, Francis is unable to give an ETA for the third major cape, but for now he is 1185 miles ahead of the record set by Banque Populaire V.

“We’re still feeling positive as we approach Cape Horn, which offers us a lot of hope, as we should be well within the record when we round it,” he added as the trimaran continues through the fog and relatively mild weather in the South Pacific at 58°S.

 

Source : www.idecsport-sailing.com

After a gybe, they’re off again. After a day of being significantly slowed, IDEC SPORT is now on the northern edge of a Southern low with more favourable winds allowing them to step up the pace towards Cape Horn.

 

They now have less than 10,000 miles left to sail and Francis Joyon and his crew are back at high speeds in the South Pacific. This morning at 55°S, they are 950 miles ahead of the record pace in the Jules Verne Trophy and this lead is continuing to increase.

With a NW’ly wind gusting up to 40 knots on waves that are not as nasty, everything is in place for the red and grey trimaran to sail at speed on the port tack. “We have just gybed. The seas are still a bit confused, but we’re sailing well. The boat is making 30-35 knots without us pushing too hard. The seas will improve as time goes by,” said Francis Joyon at dawn 2700 miles from the Horn.

 

Source : www.idecsport-sailing.com

 

Change of scenery in the South Pacific. As the crew starts its 22nd day of racing in the Jules Verne Trophy, IDEC SPORT has moved away from the Southern low, which propelled the maxi-trimaran all the way across the Indian Ocean.

 

After one long fast tack, Francis Joyon and his crew have carried out a series of gybes and manoeuvres in the past few hours during a welcome slowdown. Well ahead of the record pace (almost 800 miles this morning), they are starting the final stretch around Antarctica in milder weather, as Sébastien Audigane explains.

“We have just had our first sunny day for a long time. After gybing this morning, the weather improved with the sun offering us some warmth. No more getting drenched with water and getting whipped by the apparent wind. The helmet and neoprene balaclava have been replaced by sunglasses and a simple hat. It’s nice to get a breather. There’s still a long way to go to the Horn. We are sailing under gennaker in seas that are still quite heavy. The albatrosses are with us. Everything is fine on IDEC SPORT!”

 

Source : www.idecsport-sailing.com

At the start of their 21^st day of racing, Francis Joyon and his elite crew are preparing to leave the low-pressure system that propelled them so far at high speed, allowing them to sail for eleven days on the same tack and to set several records in the Southern Ocean. As they cross theInternational Date Line and move to degrees of longitude West, IDEC SPORT is tackling a transition zone, meaning that a gybe is imminent to join another low heading towards the Cape Horn.

 

“We’re already in the Pacific, although it’s hard to grasp. The low that has been with is ggoing to stop here. We’re heading towards the north and then gybing to come down onto another low further ahead,” explained Francis Joyon today with the trimaran heading towards the NE in NW’ly winds that are growing lighter. “We’ve already gone to full sail. We haven’t seen that for a long time. We’ll use the gennaker during the night until we get to the low and hoist the smaller sails again.”

At 52° S, 500 miles SE of Stewart Island to the south of New Zealand, they are all enjoying this short breather. “Even if we’re completely confused about the dates and times, and we’re in No Man’s Land, we know we’ll shortly be getting closer to Brest!” added Bernard Stamm. “It’s incredible to have sailed such a straight line. Everything fell into place for us. After this transition zone, we’ll pick up some more wind and get back on a SSE’ly heading. It’s looking good all the way to the Horn, even if we’ll have more manoeuvres to do,” added the Swiss sailor.

Francis, Alex Pella, Bernard Stamm, Gwénolé Gahinet, Clément Surtel and Sébastien Audigane have stabilised their lead at around 950 miles over the time set by Banque Populaire V five years ago, when she was sailed by a crew of 14.

 

Source : www.idecsport-sailing.com

The IDEC SPORT Maxi Trimaran continues to dash across the Southern Ocean and harvest more records.

 

Although the latest is not an officially ratified one, it does reveal the full extent of the feat they are accomplishing in this Jules Verne Trophy. After Leeuwin two days ago, the record to Tasmania was grabbed during the night. Previously held by Yann Guichard and Dona Bertarelli’s Spindrift 2,  Joyon, Pella, Surtel, Gahinet, Stamm and Audigane are the new holders with a time of 18 days, 18 hours and 31 minutes, quite an improvement over the 20 days, 4 hours and 37 minutes set last year by the world’s largest racing trimaran and her crew of fourteen.

IDEC SPORT has made a thundering entry into the Pacific with a lead of more than 1060 miles over her virtual rival, Banque Populaire V. This lead should stabilise over the coming hours, as Loïck Peyron and his crew of 13 had a good day in this part of the course. After slowing due to rougher seas, Joyon and his men have stepped up the pace again sailing more than 800 miles a day, with average speeds above 35 knots. Less than a thousand miles from the International Date Line, IDEC SPORT will at her current pace have crossed the halfway point tomorrow evening. They will have caught part of the Vendée Globe fleet which set sail from Les Sables d’Olonne six weeks before they took off from Ushant.

 

Source : www.idecsport-sailing.com

The IDEC SPORT maxi-trimaran is continuing to extend her lead over the Jules Verne Trophy title-holder. At the end of their eighteenth day of racing, Francis Joyon, Alex Pella, Clément Surtel, Gwénolé Gahinet, Bernard Stamm and Sébastien Audigane now have a lead of 680 miles, which is more or less the equivalent of a day’s sailing. Their straight trajectory on the port tack is now turning slightly towards the south. They are still sailing in powerful winds, but these have come around to the north and are on the beam. Speeds remain high at more than 32 knots on the direct route (VMG). This pace should allow Joyon and his men to pass under Tasmania in the next 24 hours and enter the Pacific.

 

At more than 53 degrees S, they need to watch out for ice, but fortunately there are clear skies offering good visibility, which they have not had since crossing the longitude of the Cape of Good Hope. Pleased about the two intermediate records achieved yesterday, Ushant – Cape Leeuwin (17 days, 06 hours and 59 minutes) and Cape Agulhas – Cape Leeuwin (4 days, 09 hours and 37 minutes), Joyon’s gang are not resting on their laurels. They are set to see their names enter the record books for the passage off Tasmania tomorrow and the International date Line, probably on Friday, before looking ahead and dreaming of the Horn.

 

Source : www.idecsport-sailing.com

The IDEC SPORT maxi-trimaran crossed the longitude of Cape Leeuwin at 1518hrs UTC 17 days, 6 hours and 59 minutes after leaving Ushant. This means they were almost 16 hours and 57 minutes ahead of the reference time set by Loïck Peyron and his men on Banque Populaire V (17 days, 23 hours and 56 minutes) having sailed at an average speed above 28 knots out on the water.

 

The Indian Ocean record between the Cape of Good Hope and Cape Leeuwin: The reference time between Cape Agulhas marking the entrance into the Indian Ocean and Cape Leeuwin has just been smashed with a  time of 4 days, 9 hours and 37 minutes, which is one day, 1 hour and 46 minutes ahead of the reference time set by Francis Joyon and his men in 2015 (5 days, 11 hours and 23 minutes) and one day, 12 hours and 31 minutes ahead of the title-holder Banque Populaire V (6 days and 8 minutes). The Indian Ocean was crossed at an incredible average speed of 35.08 knots (3705 miles).

An amazing feat

By crossing the longitude of Cape Leeuwin in SW Australia this afternoon after entering the Indian Ocean on Thursday 29^th December, the IDEC SPORT maxi-trimaran has just achieved one of the most amazing feats in the history of the Jules Verne Trophy. Joyon, Surtel, Audigane, Pella, Gahinet and Stamm have sailed seven whole days at more than 800 miles a day with peaks from 28^th to 31^st December respectively of 876, 871 and 869 miles, meaning an average speed of more than 36 knots.

Ushant – Australia in just 17 days, 6 hours and 59 minutes

After setting out from Ushant on 16^th December taking advantage of what he called an average weather opportunity, Joyon and his incredible gang had to work hard in an Atlantic that was far from cooperative and fell some 755 miles behind the pace set by the title-holder, the maxi-trimaran Banque Populaire V skippered by Loïck Peyron with a crew of thirteen. Diving down into the Forties they hopped onto the front of a low on which they are still sailing a long way off Cape Leeuwin. There have been supersonic speeds throughout this crossing and all carried out on a straight line, shattering all the records today. Crossing the longitude of Cape Leeuwin in 17 days, 6 hours and 59 minutes, Joyon and his gang have improved on Peyron’s performance by sixteen hours. Groupama 3, which became IDEC SPORT, took 21 days and 14 hours to sail this distance in 2010.

The Indian in 4 days and 9 hours – averaging more than 35 knots

The record time between Cape Agulhas marking the entrance into the Indian Ocean and Cape Leeuwin already belonged to Francis Joyon and his men after their performance last year with a time of 5 days 11 hours and 23 minutes. That time is completely annihilated after this historic week, as it has been taken to 4 days, 9 hours and 37 minutes. It is true that Ushant is still a long way ahead and they will only be at the halfway point at the end of the week. But IDEC SPORT has not yet finished sailing on her straight trajectory at speed and hopes to continue to do this until they approach the Pacific…

A huge effort

The crew of IDEC SPORT have have had their foot down since they entered the Forties, watch after watch taking it in turns to deal with this high speed sailing. “Conditions were right to allow us to sail quickly and without too much work,” explained Francis Joyon, far from any triumphalism after seeing the ocean covered in just a few days. “We are concentrating on our job at the helm, staying there for no longer than half an hour and paying attention to the trimming. Always on the port tack, manoeuvres involved taking in or shaking out a reef and modifying the headsail. That was the case last night, when we ran into an area of squalls that were not forecast. “The talent of the helmsmen is working wonders on these calm seas. “We are entering a transition zone today between the low that has been behind us for several days and a new low forming ahead of us,” added Bernard Stamm. “As long as these two systems don’t merge, wind conditions should remain unstable.” IDEC SPORT is continuing at high speed with wind on the beam from the north, which can be tricky when the giant trimaran lifts up her windward float. “More than ever, as we are beginning to feel tired, we need to be cautious at the helm and at the sheets,” insisted Captain Joyon.
The men on IDEC SPORT, far from celebrating their achievement, are looking ahead to what is coming up and aim to continue on this winning tack. “We thought it would take us longer to catch Banque Populaire V,” declared a surprised Francis Joyon, “in the Pacific, where Loïck had a few difficult days. We are pleased. The Pacific is looking good for us, and we are determined to make the most of that.”

 

Source : www.idecsport-sailing.com