Francis Joyon may start Jules Verne on Saturday

Brest, France (November 17, 2015) – Francis Joyon (FRA), skippering the 31.5m VPLP-designed trimaran IDEC SPORT, is on amber alert in preparation for his assault on the Jules Verne Trophy. A weather opportunity is presenting a tentative start on Saturday, November 21.

The Jules Verne Trophy is 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.

The current record held by Loïck Peyron and his crew on Banque Populaire V is 45 days, 13 hours, 42 minutes and 53 seconds. They will have to complete the voyage in at least one minute less than this for the time to be ratified by the World Speed Sailing Record Council (WSSRC), the international body responsible for timing official sailing records.

Also on standby for the Jules Verne Trophy is Dona Bertarelli and Yann Guichard, who will be skippering the 40m VPLP-designed Spindrift 2, launched in 2008 as Banque Populaire 5, and is the boat that Peyron set the record on in 2012.

The crew of IDEC SPORT:
Francis Joyon (FRA)
Bernard Stamm (SUI)
Gwénolé Gahinet (FRA)
Alex Pella (ESP)
Clément Surtel (FRA)
Boris Herrmann (GER)

IDEC SPORT: http://www.idecsport-sailing.com/?lang=en