Slow Start to Jules Verne Trophy Attempt

(November 22, 2016; Day 2, 23:30 FR) – After setting sail on Sunday evening, the IDEC SPORT maxi trimaran has made steady progress and are now past Gibraltar on starboard gybe, heading southwest in the northerly winds.

In this first part of the Jules Verne Trophy attempt, Francis Joyon and his warriors, Clément Surtel, Alex Pella, Boris Herrmann, Gwénolé Gahinet and Bernard Stamm are aiming to go from one system to another off the Canaries to pick up the trade winds, which although light for the moment are set to strengthen in the next 24 hours to propel IDEC SPORT towards the Cape Verde Islands and the Equator. The real challenge in this attempt is to look ahead to the weather coming up.

Joyon and his men are 195.7 nm behind their virtual rival, the title-holder, Banque Populaire V. Joyon and his router, Marcel van Triest knew the time to the Equator was not going to be extraordinary, and so it is only when they get to the Cape of Good Hope and the Indian Ocean that they can really see how they are doing.

IDEC SPORT RACING – Tracker – Facebook

Background:
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.

Francis Joyon (FRA) will be skippering the 31.5m VPLP-designed trimaran IDEC SPORT to beat the current record set January 2012 by Loïck Peyron and his crew on the 40 VPLP-designed trimaran Banque Populaire V of 45 days, 13 hours, 42 minutes and 53 seconds. To beat the record Joyon’s team must return to cross this same line between Brittany and Cornwall by 10:56:38 UTC on January 5, 2017.

IDEC SPORT crew
Francis Joyon (FRA), skipper
Bernard Stamm (CH), helmsman-trimmer
Gwénolé Gahinet (FRA), helmsman-trimmer
Alex Pella (ESP), helmsman-trimmer
Clément Surtel (FRA), helmsman-trimmer
Boris Herrmann (GER), helmsman-trimmer
–
Marcel Van Triest (NLD), on-shore router

Jules Verne Trophy
Record to beat: 45 days, 13 hours, 42 minutes and 53 seconds set by Loïck Peyron and his crew of 13 in January 2012 on the trimaran Banque Populaire V (40 m)
Average speed to beat: 19.75 knots
Course: around the world via the three capes, Good Hope, Leeuwin, Horn.
Great circle distance: 21,600 miles
Start and finish line between Ushant (Créac’h Lighthouse and The Lizard (Cornwall).

IDEC SPORT trimaran
Trimaran with foils
Designers: VPLP
Previous names: Groupama 3, Banque Populaire VII
Initial launch: June 2006
Length: 31.50 m
Beam: 22.50 m
Displacement: 15 t
Draught: 5.70 m
Mast height: 33.50 m
Structure: carbon-nomex