Around the World in Forty Days

When the 31.5 trimaran IDEC SPORT skippered by Francis Joyon (FRA) completed their circumnavigation on January 26, 2017, his team became the ninth recipient of the Jules Verne Trophy, an amazing sculpture which seems to float in the air created by the American Thomas Shannon, and housed in the very prestigious Naval Museum (Musée de la Marine) in Paris.

The Jules Verne Trophy is not any circumnavigation. It recognizes the fastest time by any type of yacht with no restrictions on the size of the crew, and must start and finish from the exact line between the Le Créac’h Lighthouse off the tip of Brittany and the Lizard Point in Cornwall. All winners have been either catamarans or trimarans.

Joyon, whose crew only included Clément Surtel (FRA), Alex Pella (ESP), Bernard Stamm (SUI), Gwénolé Gahinet (FRA), and Sébastien Audigane (FRA), shattered the previous record by 4 days, 14 hours, 12 minutes and 23 seconds.

What began as an idea to sail around the world in 80 days, the holders of the Jules Verne Trophy have proceeded to reduce that in half. While 18 attempts have failed, here are the nine that have held the trophy:

2017 – Francis Joyon / IDEC-SPORT (31.5m) – 40:23:30:30
2012 – Loïck Peyron / Banque Populaire V (40m) – 45:13:42:53
2010 – Franck Cammas / Groupama 3 (31.5m) – 48:07:44:52
2005 – Bruno Peyron / Orange II (36.8m) – 50:16:20:04
2004 – Olivier De Kersauson / Geronimo (33.8m) – 63:13:59:46
2002 – Bruno Peyron / Orange (32.8m) – 64:08:37:24
1997 – Olivier De Kersauson / Sport-Elec (27.3m) – 71:14:22:08
1994 – Peter Blake, Robin Knox-Johnston / Enza New Zealand (28m) – 74:22:17:22
1993 – Bruno Peyron / Commodore Explorer (28m) – 79:06:15:56

Watch the presentation of the Jules Verne Trophy to Francis Joyon and the crew of IDEC SPORT at the Musée de la Marine in Paris: