Breaking the Jules Verne Trophy record
Francis Joyon has set himself a new challenge, that of winning the Jules Verne Trophy, with a reduced crew of 6 sailors, on a 30-meter boat, Idec Sport. He will be up against Spindrift, a 40-meter giant of the seas, with a crew twice that of the red trimaran. As a reminder, the Jules Verne Trophy is a record-breaking round-the-world crewed race under sail.
The Idec Sport trimaran was launched on October 2, after a three-week express refit at Multiplast in Vannes. Optimized to beat the Jules Verne Trophy record, she was christened on October 14. Francis Joyon took the opportunity to unveil the names of the sailors who will accompany him in his crewed round-the-world race. In all, there will be six sailors at sea (including Joyon), a router on land and a replacement.
The entire crew at Idec Sport's christening: Francis Joyon, Bernard Stamm, Alex Pella, Boris Herman, Gwénolé Gahinet, Clément Surtel and Roland Jourdain, the substitute.
Before them, only Bruno Peyron, the 1993 Record holder, had set off with a crew of 5. Since then, crews for this kind of record are between 10 and 14 sailors.
Francis Joyonâ??s goal is to improve on the Jules Verne Trophy record, held by Loïck Peyron and his crew in 45 days, 13 hours, 42 minutes and 53 seconds. To date, the skipper of Idec Sport remains the fastest single-handed circumnavigator since his feat aboard the ex-IDEC in 2008, when he completed the circumnavigation in 57 days, 13 hours, 34 minutes and 06 seconds
A departure on November 21?
The trimaran Idec Sport left La Trinité-sur-Mer this Monday, November 16, to reach Brest. This delivery to Finistère allowed Francis Joyon to get closer to the starting line, which is simple: between Ushant (Créac'h lighthouse) and Lizard Cape (England). It is from this line that the crew will have to set off and complete its course.
The crew is now in code orange, which means that a departure could take place in less than a week. A weather window could open in four days, which would allow a departure on November 21. If it is confirmed, the crew will then switch to code green and the trimaran will set sail for Ushant. This departure towards the line could take place on Saturday. Francis Joyon and his router are working in this direction.
Idec Sport - credit: JM Liot/DPPI/IDEC
To beat the record, they will have to sail around the world in six and a half weeks, and be at least one minute slower than Banque Populaire V for the record to be validated by the World Speed Sailing Record Council (WSSRC), the international organization that very officially sets sailing records. To do this, they will have to average 20 knots to cover the 26,000 miles of direct route.
Idec Sport's crew for this Jules Verne Trophy
We will find the Swiss Bernard Stamm, a specialist in round-the-world races, who already won the Jules Verne Trophy in 2005 aboard the maxi-catamaran Orange 2. Gwénolé Gahinet is the youngest member of the team. Son of an ocean racing legend, he is a regular on the Figaro circuit, after having started on the Mini circuit. A naval architecture engineer, he worked at VPLP, the firm that designed Idec Sport. The Spaniard Alex Pella will also take part. He started as a technical preparer for large multihulls, before moving on to Mini 6.50s and then Class40s, but also to multihulls. Clément Surtel is the nephew of Franck-Yves Escoffier. This multihull enthusiast is the former préparateur of Idec Sport, at the time of Franck Cammas. He has already participated in two Jules Verne Trophies, in 2005 and in 2010, on land. The German Boris Herman has to his credit two circumnavigations and three passages of Cape Horn. In 2009, he became the first German to win a round-the-world sailing race, the Global Ocean Race.
Francis Joyon, Gwénolé Gahinet, Boris Herman, Clément Surtel, Alex Pella and Bernard Stamm
Roland Jourdain will be the replacement. The man nicknamed Bilou is a hero of the Vendée Globe, the Figaro, the Route du Rhum and the big multihulls. Finally, the role of router will be held by the Dutchman Marcel Van Triest. He is one of the best routers in the world and works from his home in the Balearics. He is also a great sailor as he has already sailed around the world five times. He will try to beat his own record (Banque Populaire in 45 days and a half, that was him) and to beat his colleague and friend Jean-Yves Bernot who will be the router of Spindrift 2, IDEC SPORT's competitor on this Jules Verne Trophy.
All this small team will, of course, be headed by Francis Joyon, the only sailor to have held the four greatest single-handed ocean records at the same time (Round the World, Atlantic, 24 hours, Discovery Route).
Idec Sport - credit: JM Liot/DPPI/IDEC
