The same team as in 2015
In 2015, Idec Sport left on November 22 with a crew of 6 men on board to attempt to break the Jules Verne Trophy record (crewed round the world race). By arriving on January 8, 2016 after 47 days 14 hours and 47 minutes, Francis Joyon and his crew recorded the 3rd best time ever e best time in history, behind Spindrift (which left at the same time as them, but with a 14-person crew) and Loïck Peyron, holder of the Trophy since 2012 in 45 days, 13 hours, 42 minutes and 53 seconds.
Less than a year after his first attempt, Francis Joyon will try the performance again, with the same team. After arriving in Brest in February 2016, the 6 sailors had expressed their desire to set off again for this round-the-world crewed sailing race. Even if it is difficult to gather several international sailors at the same time, they will all be present on board Idec Sport.
For now, the six men are waiting for a weather window, which could open at the end of October, otherwise "as soon as possible" says Francis Joyon. Especially since there are not many windows between October and February and leaving early in the season ensures a better sequence for the last ascent of the Atlantic Ocean. Bernard Stamm, whom we met at the beginning of October in Port-La-Foret confided to us that he hoped to leave around October 20thâ?¦
Idec Sport's crew for the 2016 Jules Verne Trophy
- Francis Joyon (FRA)
- Bernard Stamm (SUI)
- Gwénolé Gahinet (FRA)
- Alex Pella (ESP)
- Clément Surtel (FRA)
- Boris Herrmann (GER)
The Idec trimaran optimized for the Jules Verne Trophy
On September 19, 2016, Idec Sport was relaunched after a summer refit conducted by Francis Joyon's technical team at the Multiplast yard in Vannes. As a reminder, Idec Sport is none other than the Groupama 3 aboard which Franck Cammas won the Jules Verne Trophy in 2010.
"The boat was put in the dry for a month and a half. This was a very intense job, as we had left the boat afloat since the last round the world race. There was still a lot of wear and tear on the equipment and improvements needed to be made. In particular, we worked a lot on the protection of the helmsman and the trimmers with the aim of improving performance. We will also have a new mainsail and gennaker. As for the rest, we've been fine-tuning things: the ropes, the fittings and the central rudder, the profile of which we've reviewed with the AMCO yard, which is very advanced in terms of appendages. This boat is more than ten years old, it has been improved by many teams, and we have continued in this direction by small touches. We really had to go deep to gain a little weight, a little speed, and I think we did a good job!" explained Francis Joyon.
Since then, the boat has returned to its home port of Trinité-sur-Mer and has been in a training phase since the beginning of October. "The training phase will start at the beginning of October with outings with as many crew members as possible and, hopefully, Marcel Van Triest, our router. We can hope to be on stand-by for October 20th. That's an optimistic view of things that can happen if we don't encounter any major technical problems."
