Leaving on December 16, 2016 at 9:19 a.m., Francis Joyon, Alex Pella, Bernard Stamm, Gwénolé Gahinet, Sébastien Audigane and Clément Surtel have just celebrated the New Year in the most beautiful way! After a first aborted start in mid-November 2016, the six sailors set sail again on 16 December! After accumulating a few miles of deficit, they managed to line up speeds sometimes approaching 40 knots, which enabled them to set a double record at Cape Leeuwin!
The maxi-trimaran Idec Sport has just passed the longitude of Cape Leeuwin at 16 hours and 18 minutes (French time) after 17 days, 06 hours and 59 minutes of sailing. They have a lead of nearly 16 hours and 57 minutes over Loïck Peyron's reference time on Banque Populaire V (17 days, 23 hours and 56 minutes), completed in 2012.
"We thought we'd come back to Banque Populaire V much later." Francis Joyon wondered, "in the Pacific where Loïck had had a few difficult days. We're happy. The Pacific looks pretty interesting for us, and we'll be keen to push our advantage... "
They are also taking advantage of this to set a second record: the Indian Ocean record between the Cape of Good Hope and Cape Leeuwin. It took the crew of the red trimaran 4 days, 09 hours and 37 minutes to link Cape Agulhas, which marks the entrance to the Indian Ocean, and Cape Leeuwin. Francis Joyon and his five crew are 1 day, 1 hour and 46 minutes ahead of Francis Joyon's reference time in 2015 (5 days, 11 hours and 23 minutes) and 1 day, 12 hours and 31 minutes ahead of the title holder Banque Populaire V (6 days and 8 minutes). A crossing of 3705 miles, made at an impressive speed of 35.08 knots.
Since entering the Indian Ocean on 29th December last, they have clocked up seven days with over 800 miles covered daily, with peaks from 28th to 31st December at 876, 871 and 869 miles respectively, which is a staggering average of over 36 knots!
"The conditions were right for sliding fast and effortlessly. We were totally concentrated on the helm work, no more than 30 minutes at a time, and on the adjustments. On a single tack on port tack, our manoeuvres essentially consist of taking or dropping reefs and changing the sail plan at the front. That was the case last night when we fell into an unexpected squall." says Francis Joyon. "Today we are entering a transition zone between the low we've been ahead of for several days and a new low forming ahead of us. As long as these two systems are not merged into one, the wind conditions will remain unstable." says Bernard Stamm.
Francis Joyon and his five crew are not the type to admit defeat... After their failure to set a record for the Jules Verne Trophy at the beginning of 2016 (3rd best time in history), the men of the red trimaran Idec Sport decided to try their luck again on 20 November 2016 . Unfortunately, accumulating a lot of delay because of bad weather conditions, the crew had turned back... before setting off again on December 16, 2016.
