Spindrift 2: Need To Get South

(December 16, 2015; Day 25) – After four days in the Pacific, the 40m maxi-trimaran Spindrift 2 and its crew are currently regaining ground on the record holder (90 miles back in the last 24 hours), but their progress is being hampered by an area of light wind near the latitude of 45° South.

“The large waves are still restrained because of the moderate weather conditions we are facing right now – but they are still large,” reports Dona Bertarelli. “The promised wind is (almost) here, because, and we’re not complaining, quite the opposite, this afternoon for a few hours, we thought we were back in the Caribbean trade winds rather than in the middle of the Pacific. The sun shone in all its glory in a steady wind of around 20 knots. With Spindrift 2 effortlessly making over 30 knots, it was a moment of happiness and respite for those on watch, lucky that it happened on their turn.”

Looking forward, the first objective will be to reach, as quickly as possible, the depression to their south, which would allow them to get to Cape Horn faster. Timing remains tight in order to not to let the strong winds slip away and to minimise the loss of time against Banque Populaire V, which was sailing 400 miles further south four years ago. With this in mind, the maxi-trimaran should curve her course in the evening.

As of 2100 UTC
Distance to finish: 9797.7
Distance for 24 hours: 635.4 nm
Distance ahead of record: -4.25 nm

Source: Spindrift 2

Team website – Tracker – Facebook

Background: Spindrift 2 has entered to claim the Jules Verne Trophy, a prize for the fastest circumnavigation of the world by any type of yacht with no restrictions on the size of the crew, starting and finishing between the Le Créac’h Lighthouse off the tip of Brittany and the Lizard Point in Cornwall.

Yann Guichard (FRA), skippering the 40 VPLP-designed trimaran, crossed the start line on November 22 at 04:01:58 GMT, and his 14-man team must return by 17:43:51 UTC on January 6, 2016 to beat the current record set January 2012 by Loïck Peyron and his crew on Banque Populaire 5 of 45 days, 13 hours, 42 minutes and 53 seconds.

Spindrift 2 was originally launched in 2008 as Banque Populaire 5.

MORE: Also starting on November 22 (at 02:02:22 GMT) for an attempt at the Jules Verne Trophy was Francis Joyon (FRA), skippering the 31.5m VPLP-designed trimaran IDEC SPORT. The 6-person team must return by 15:44:15 GMT on January 6, 2016 to beat the record. Here’s a tracker showing both teams: http://volodiaja.net/Tracking/

SPINDRIFT 2 CREW:
Yann Guichard, skipper
Dona Bertarelli, helmsman-trimmer
Sébastien Audigane, helmsman-trimmer
Antoine Carraz, helmsman-trimmer
Thierry Duprey du Vorsent, helmsman-trimmer
Christophe Espagnon, helmsman-bowman
Jacques Guichard, helmsman-trimmer
Erwan Israël, navigator
Loïc Le Mignon, helmsman-trimmer
Sébastien Marsset, bowman
François Morvan, helmsman-trimmer
Xavier Revil, helmsman-trimmer
Yann Riou, media reporter
Thomas Rouxel, helmsman-bowman
Jean-Yves Bernot, onshore router