It took Joyon and his men 5 days, 18 hours and 59 minutes to sail from Ushant to the Equator, which was two hours and 59 minutes more than the title-holder, Banque Populaire V. Francis Joyon refers to this as a decent time and says they are on track. The Doldrums seem to have become too attracted to the big red and white multihull and does not want to let her go, as the crew has been stuck in there now for more than 24 hours.
After fouir excellent days in the trade winds with peak speeds of 40 knots off the Cape Verde Islands, IDEC SPORT has since Tuesday evening been at speeds unworthy of even monohulls, and they have only sailed just over 200 miles in the past 24 hours. In moderate winds and a confused NW’ly air stream followed by calms, Joyon, Surtel, Pella, Stamm, Audigane and Gahinet are trying to find a way to get to the trade winds in the south. At this point in the record attempt, Banque Populaire V, a long way west of IDEC SPORT’s position was back up to 25 knots.
The advantage that IDEC SPORT had has now become a loss of over 40 miles this morning and this is likely to grow until Joyon and his men go on the port tack in the trade winds.
The IDEC SPORT maxi-trimaran was suddenly slowed last night just before midnight after the high speed voyage down from Ushant. After speeds in excess of thirty knots, the situation suddenly changed at 3°N with the first effects of the Doldrums being felt.
Joyon and his crew of five have been struggling in an area of light winds since then. After coming to a standstill for a while, the big red and white trimaran has been heading south since dawn at slow speed at between eight and ten knots. His lead over the title-holder Banque Populaire V, which reached 210 miles, has gradually been falling and is now 160 miles.
The Equator is still 150 miles ahead of IDEC SPORT, sailing in the area of light winds. On the other hand, the SSE’ly trade winds seem to be well established to the south of the Equator. It looks like the whole of this fifth day is going to be slow and frustrating for the sailors.
Joyon’s men are some way east of their virtual rival, who in 2012 had to go a long way west to get around the St. Helena high. Loïck Peyron and Banque Populaire V took five days and 16 hours to get to the Equator.
After the Canaries and the Cape Verde Islands, the IDEC SPORT maxi-trimaran is preparing to enter the Doldrums. The effects of the Intertropical Convergence Zone, which did so much damage to Joyon and his men in November will be felt in around twelve hours.
Joyon, Surtel, Gahinet, Stamm, Audigane and Pella have not been hanging around since they left Ushant four days ago. Off the Cape Verde Islands they have just had a magnificent day sailing 725 miles averaging more than thirty knots in 24 hours. This morning, the Equator is only 660 miles ahead of their bows. The trade wind is blowing at between 20 and 25 knots and is set to continue for most of the day allowing the red and white trimaran to keep up this pace.
There is then the uncertainty associated with the Doldrums. In November this area dealt a blow to IDEC SPORT on her recent attempt at the Jules Verne Trophy. It expanded in front of Joyon and his men, dashing any hopes they had of getting to the Equator with a decent time and more importantly of making it to the South Atlantic lows. A little luck would be helpful in this area, where they have to deal with calms and sudden wind shifts.
They currently have a lead of around a hundred miles over their virtual rival, the title-holder, Banque Populaire V, as they prepare to enter the Doldrums.
There is a rather unusual situation off Mauritania this morning. The Maxi -Trimaran IDEC SPORT crossed paths with the exact position where her virtual rival and Jules Verne Trophy title-holder, Loïck Peyron’s Banque Populaire V, was sailing four years ago.
On what is an almost ideal route, Francis Joyon’s multihull is speeding along at thirty knots towards the Cape Verde Islands, while at the sae moment on her winning voyage, Loïck Peyron headed west at “only” 23.6 knots in terms of VMG. On their third day of racing Joyon and his men have a slight advantage over the reference time.
The gybe they carried out yesterday evening see them on the port tack. Joyon, Surtel, Audigane, Stamm, Pella and Gahinet should stay on this tack until the Doldrums. The Cape Verde Islands that the crew so love are 350 miles ahead of the bows of the red and white multihull. Joyon and his crew, still sailing at more than thirty knots will be passing close to the islands this evening. The trade winds are gradually shifting eastwards offering the maxi trimaran an excellent angle to dive south. Francis can therefore choose the precise route to pass the islands, either leeward of the islands or through the middle. During last month’s attempt, they sailed between the islands of Santa Lucia and San Vicente after 3 days and 15 hours following a quick voyage down from Ushant.
At the end of their second day of racing, Francis Joyon and his crew on the IDEC SPORT maxi-trimaran will be passing to the north of La Palma, the westernmost island in the Canaries. In 48 hours they will have sailed a little over 1200 miles, averaging more than 29 knots.
Photo Jean Marie Liot / DPPI / IDEC
To keep us such a pace, taking into account the number of gybes that have been required since Ushant, the red and white maxi-trimaran has been keeping up speeds in excess of thirty knots. As Francis told us yesterday morning, the organisation of the watches has gone without hitch and that healthy rivalry between the helmsmen that we saw last year, is back in action, while everyone is aware of the importance of being cautious.
Sailing on a trajectory directly parallel to her virtual rival, the title-holder, Banque Populaire V, IDEC SPORT is 88 miles behind the pace, but could make up some of these losses as they round the Canaries via the west. Joyon and his men are not worrying about this data for the moment, preferring to focus on racing against the elements in a NNE’ly air stream, allowing them to make rapid progress south.
On board the maxi-trimaran Idec Sport, Sébastien Audigane from Brest, 48 years old, has replaced Boris Herrmann from Germany at short notice. A new challenge for this exceptional helmsman who has sailed with the greats. Flashback (read full article on www.letelegramme.fr)
The IDEC SPORT maxi-trimaran got straight into the pace in her attempt at the Jules Verne Trophy record.
Photo Jean Marie Liot / DPPI / IDEC
Francis Joyon and his crew of five, Sébastien Audigane, Alex Pella, Clément Surtel, Gwénolé Gahinet and Bernard Stamm had from the outset to make the most of the weather. The strong NNE’ly wind forced them to carry out a series of gybes and change tack with the wind from astern. A tricky job, but one that was required in order to stay in the strip of wind, which will see them passing Spain and Portugal on their second day. Permanently above thirty knots, Joyon and his men, while not diving straight down, are managing to make good headway south.
The first 24 hours match the forecasts established by Francis and Marcel van Triest before they set off with around a loss of 75 miles in comparison to the pace of the title-holder Banque Populaire V. Not wishing to hang around, when there was a job to be done, Joyon’s boys decoded to give it a go and make the most of this weather opportunity, confident in the ability of their boat, which has been fine tuned since last year’s attempt.
At 08:19:00 UTC* in the first glimmer of light this Friday, IDEC SPORT crossed the start line off Ushant at more than twenty knots in her dash to grab the outright round the world record. The six men on board have to be back by 22:00:53 UTC on Monday 30th January to improve on the time set in January 2012 by Loïck Peyron’s crew and see their name inscribed on the famous Trophy.
After gathering on the pontoon very early this morning, the crew of IDEC SPORT were clearly eager to get going and did not hang around in the dark of night. Under the watchful gaze of the Abeille Bourbon tug, Francis Joyon, Alex Pella, Gwénolé Gahinet, Clément Surtel, Sébastien Audigane and Bernard Stamm left the harbour in Brest at 0530 UTC to make their way aboard the red and grey trimaran to the start line for the Jules Verne Trophy.
Highlights of what the men said on the pontoon:
Francis Joyon: “This morning the forecasts are a little better than yesterday evening. We should be able to pick up the northerly winds without as great a risk of finding calms. Thesituation is more comfortable. In terms of the weather that lies ahead, we can see what is going to happen to around Uruguay environ, which is 6000 miles from here. We are stubborn and the goal is the same. We want to be back in les than 45 days. We’re not mathematicians and it is hard talking in terms of percentages in this type of adventure. But we are in with a chance, which is already helpful and we needed to grab this opportunity.”
Alex Pella: “For this final night ashore, I slept on the boat. I got ahead of my mates and have already settled in. I’m not the only one, as we all are in a hurry to get going now, as this apparently looks like a good opportunity. It was har having to wait. We feel more relaxed than last time. Our first attempt, when we spent a fortnight at sea really helped as it allowed us to get to know each other and the boat again. It was good training and now it’s time to set off for real.”
Gwénolé Gahinet: “We had a few hours before leaving the harbour. The start was planned and that means we are more relaxed this time. We’ll be fast to the Equator and the first part looks pleasing. In the South Atlantic, it won’t be quite as fast, but it is looking like a decent time to the Cape of Good Hope and who knows, we could be in for a surprise. It was good practice last time and now I don’t feel stressed and am ready to go.”
Clément Surtel: “Time has been slipping by and the stand-by period always seems a bit long. I’m really pleased to be back here again. In this round the world voyage, we have clear visibility to the Equator, while the stretch to the Cape of Good Hope will become clearer in the next two or three days. On a human level, this is still an adventure. We’re not going off on a cruise and we’re facing a round the world voyage with all its difficulties. But I think everyone is committed and fully motivated to go and get the record. Technically, we remain confident. We’re keeping our fingers crossed that the weather will let us through. It will be down to that.”
Sébastien Audigane: “I’m really in the mindset for an attempt at theJules Verne. I’m setting off for 43-44 days, which is a huge deal. What is rather special is that I have only known this for a week. I had to learn at 100 mph and now I can’t wait to get going.”
Bernard Stamm: “Thesituation looks better than last time for setting off. We had time to prepare and do things properly. We’re more relaxed for this second attempt. Last time I got dressed in case we were setting off and there were a lot of uncertainties right up to the final moment. The weather isn’t looking too bad at all for the Northern Hemisphere, even if we have more doubts about the South. There is time for things to change and settle down. We’ll see. It’s nice setting off during the day. It’s not as scary putting your foot down from the start. It is looking good to the Equator; and the time comes when you simply have to go.”
* The precise time awaits ratification from the WSSRC (World Sailing Speed Record Council)
