IDEC SPORT Still Trails Record Pace

(November 25, 2016; Day 5) – With almost 700 miles sailed in 24 hours averaging more than 29 knots yesterday, the maxi-trimaran IDEC SPORT revealed part of her full potential as she approached the Cape Verde Islands. However, these islands appear not to want to see Francis Joyon and his crew of five get away from them.

IDEC SPORT went very quickly through the islands going between Mindelo-Santa Lucia. But yesterday evening, it was the wind shadow of the two small southern islands, Fogo and Sao Tiago, which slowed them down, forcing them to carry out a series of gybes in light airs to get way in a fading trade wind.

During the night, the giant trimaran continued due south to deal with the passage through the Doldrums and the transition with the SE’ly trade winds. This is going to be a crucial day with very volatile weather patterns ahead of IDEC SPORT, making the weather charts fairly useless in this area where the masses of air from the Northern Hemisphere meets those from the Southern Hemisphere.

The boat’s average speed dropped and they are now behind the pace set by Banque Populaire V by more than 170 miles this morning. As they start their 5th day at sea, Joyon and his men are still some 600 miles from the Equator.

Status as of 18:00 FR
Distance to finish: 19854.1 nm
24 hour distance: 423 nm
Record status: -107.0 nm

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

Source: IDEC SPORT