As on the other Ultimate (except Actual where they will be just five sailors), they will be five crew aboard Idec Sport, the trimaran which has held the Jules Verne Trophy record since the winter of 2016/2017. The boat will undergo a small "beauty" refit after her crewed circumnavigation of the world. "Our round-the-world tour has naturally left its mark on the boat, which needs a serious clean-up. No drastic transformation on the platform or the rigging. We're going to compete in this new race, The Bridge, in the same technical configuration as the Jules Verne Trophy with the same sails and the small mast which has done us so well" says Francis Joyon.
A small crew change
For this race of giants, Francis Joyon will be surrounded by almost the same team, except for the Swiss Bernard Stamm, who has been selected for the Tour de France sailing race aboard the Diam 24 Cheminées Poujoulat. He will be replaced by the young sailing master (30 years old) Quentin Ponroy. "Quentin presents a very interesting profile. He is a specialist in light multihulls, as he won the Tour de France sailing race. As a sailboat, he will have a keen eye for our set of sails and will bring a lot to this field" says the skipper of Idec Sport.
From left to right: Sébastien Audigane, Alex Pella, Francis Joyon, Bernard Stamm, Clément Surtel and Guénolé Gahinet
As for Guénolé Gahinet, Alex Pella, Clément Surtel and Sébastien Audigane, they will rediscover, with undisguised pleasure, their tourdumondist reflexes. "We have a lot of fun getting together. We're going to renew the complicity that has been our strength for 40 days and 23 hours around the world..." indicates Alex Pella.
"We're leaving without any particular pressure. It's always interesting to sail in contact, and we're going to discover the confrontation between giants, on a North Atlantic course which is always meteorologically complicated. So many giant multihulls with different specificities that it will be interesting to compare..." says Francis Joyon.
