IDEC SPORT: Fat Lady Has Sung

(January 3, 2016; Day 43) – The team on the 31.5m maxi-trimaran IDEC SPORT accepts that the Jules Verne Trophy record is not going to be beaten this year. The small areas of low pressure and the large highs spread across the Pacific and South Atlantic in particular, have dashed the hopes and ambitions of the two contenders, IDEC SPORT and Spindrift 2, in spite of their determination and hard work.

“They don’t know how to play it cool and take things easy,” Francis Joyon joked looking at the stubbornness of each of the five members of his crew, as they continue to push the IDEC SPORT maxi trimaran as hard as they can. “During the night we had some very chaotic conditions,” he added.

This was not seen in the figures that appeared during the night as the boat speed was rarely below 30 knots. IDEC SPORT is continuing at high speed, but on a route that is far from being direct. “The Azores high is forcing us to head towards the NW and the continent of America. This morning we were less than 950 miles from the Caribbean,” explained Francis.

This meant that they were not making very efficient gains towards the finish, but based on the latest forecasts, that will suddenly all change when Joyon and his men pass the western edge of this large area of calms to go straight into the strong westerly air stream. “After that our performance will depend on the sea state,” continued Joyon. “But we should be able to stay on the edge of the deep lows in a wind range that we can deal with.”

As for their ETA, that still remains vague but appears that the boat will finish off Ushant sometime on Friday 8th January.

As of 21:00 UTC
Distance to finish: 2921.47 nm
Distance for 24 hours: 611.4 nm
Distance ahead of record: -460.66 nm

Source: IDEC SPORT

Team website – 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), skippering the 31.5m VPLP-designed trimaran, crossed the start line on November 22 at 02:02:22 GMT, and his 6-man team must return by 15:44:15 UTC on January 6, 2016 to beat the current record set January 2012 by Loïck Peyron and his crew on Banque Populaire V of 45 days, 13 hours, 42 minutes and 53 seconds.

MORE: Also starting on November 22 (at 04:01:58 GMT) for an attempt at the Jules Verne Trophy was the 40m VPLP-designed Spindrift 2, led by Yann Guichard. The 14-person team must return before 17:43:51 GMT on January 6, 2016 to beat the record. Here’s a tracker showing both teams: http://volodiaja.net/Tracking/

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