A first record for Spindrift 2
Yann Guichard and his eleven crew crossed the Equator on Monday 21 January 2019 after 4 days 19 hours and 57 minutes. They set the North Atlantic Record and improved Francis Joyon's (Idec Sport) performance by more than 23 hours and their own 1 hour 48 minutes (their 2015 time was 4 days, 21 hours and 45 minutes). They are 180 miles ahead of the red trimaran. However, it will be necessary to wait for official validation by the WSSRC (international organization in charge of records).
The black and gold trimaran set off in front of the Créac'h lighthouse on Wednesday 16th January at 11 h 47' 27" UTC quickly benefited from favourable conditions, even if it had to gybe all the way down from Cape Finisterre off the Canaries.
"We started to enter the Doldrums around 2° North: it wasn't very active, which didn't make it easy for us to cross with very little breeze... Even the squalls weren't very windy. It was especially nice to have a full moon when we crossed the equator: we even saw the eclipse! It was beautiful for a good hour... Everyone has taken the pace and the modification of the cap is really a bonus: we are much safer. The descent to the equator was not a simple route: it was necessary to make a series of gybes and pass through the Canary Islands and Cape Verde. We had a pretty rough sea before these two island groups." said Yann Guichard a few minutes after crossing the hemispheric separation line.
The next objective is now the tip of South Africa: Francis Joyon and his crew had crossed the longitude of Cape Agulhas after 12 d 21 h 22' by sea. With a 23-hour lead, Yann Guichard hopes to keep a small half-day lead before heading for the Indian Ocean. At the time, the boat - in the colours of Banque Populaire - had taken just under twelve days since Ushant (11 d 23 h 50').
