Spindrift 2: In The Transition

(December 17, 2015; Day 26) – The miles are passing by slowly for the sailors on the 40m maxi-trimaran Spindrift 2 as they make their way across a very calm Pacific. Last night, at around 17:30 GMT, the sailors gybed south, the first in a series of three through the night, which allowed them to win back some miles on Banque Populaire V’s record.

On this 26th day at sea, the trimaran was sailing near the latitude of 48° South in a wind swinging from the north-west to the north-east and between 8-15 knots, in a transition zone between different low-pressure systems in the South Pacific.

“Today, like yesterday, is a transition between two low-pressure systems in the South Pacific,” explains Jean-Yves Bernot, weather forecaster for the team. “The outlook for tomorrow morning shows the team crossing a ridge of high pressure with low, variable wind, which means a lot of tension and manoeuvres for the crew. Overnight from the 18th to the 19th, if everything goes to plan, we will pick up a ‘true wind’, SW 20 kts. This will provide the road to Cape Horn.”

As of 2100 UTC
Distance to finish: 9497.9 nm
Distance for 24 hours: 306.8 nm
Distance ahead of record: -56.35 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