Spindrift: Waiting for trade winds

(December 28, 2015; Day 37) – The 40m maxi-trimaran Spindrift 2 tacked off the coast of Rio de Janeiro in the middle of the night during the race for the Jules Verne Trophy. The rather fragmented and “sticky” South Atlantic high will soon be in the trimaran’s wake as she moves up the Brazilian coastline, tacking in northerly winds, which are taking a long time to veer east – the early sign of providential trade winds.

The tipping point should become clear over the next few hours. The easterlies should allow the team to plot a straighter route northwards towards the doldrums, which are usually kind at this time of year. On board, time is ticking by, the days are passing and the weather is getting warmer. The crew is fully focused on achieving their goal and keeping up the pace, as watch after watch passes by with metronome-like precision.

As of 2100 UTC
Distance to finish: 4624.9 nm
Distance for 24 hours: 365.1 nm
Distance ahead of record: -516.49 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