AS THE GIANT TRIMARAN MADE ITS WAY TO THE CRÉAC'H LIGHTHOUSE (ISLE OF OUESSANT) FOR A SECOND ATTEMPT AT THE JULES VERNE TROPHY, SPINDRIFT 2 DISMASTED AT ABOUT 1615H TODAY (MONDAY 15 JANUARY 2018), SOUTH OF POINTE SAINT-MATHIEU IN A STRONG 30 KNOT WESTERLY BREEZE AND ROUGH SEAS.
Credit : Ch Schmid
The IDEC SPORT maxi-trimaran skippered by Francis Joyon crossed the longitude of Cape Horn, the last of the three major capes in the Jules Verne trophy at 0004 UTC on Thursday 12th January.
Crédit : JM Liot
Situated just 2,600 nautical miles away from the finish line off Ushant and about to start her 43rd day at sea, Spindrift 2 is now only 266 miles off the pace, but will no longer be able to improve on the Jules Verne Trophy record time of 45d 13h 42m 53s, set in 2012. Although the crew have battled incessantly, closing the gap by more than 700 miles in three days, the weather has sealed their fate. The Azores High has blocked the direct route, while violent storms lie ahead, making the sea unnavigable, so the conditions in the Atlantic make it impossible for the crew to finish the circumnavigation on time. From today, Spindrift 2's crew have been forced to take their foot off the gas and leave off record-attempt mode.
Credit : Y Riou
Spindrift 2 crossed the equator at 0131hrs UTC on Friday 27 November, just under five days after setting off! Yann Guichard and his crew are on world-record pace. Current Jules Verne Trophy holder Banque Populaire V crossed the equator in 5 days, 14 hours, 55 seconds in 2011.
Crédit : Y Riou
IDEC SPORT crossed the Equator on Friday 27th November at 03:03:52 UTC. Francis Joyon and his crew of five took 5 days 01 hour 52 seconds to sail from Ushant to the line separating the two hemispheres. They are more than half a day ahead of the record.
Credit : On Board
The trimaran Spindrift 2 left Brest at 23.35 (CET) and is making her way to Ushant, the starting line of the Trophée Jules Verne around-the-world record, which she will be crossing tonight.
Crédit : E Stichelbaut
Francis Joyon and his crew of five have been through the first few hours of their attempt to smash the Jules Verne Trophy record. IDEC SPORT crossed the start line off Ushant at 02:02:22 on Sunday 22nd November 2015. The first hundred or so miles are now in their wake.
Crédit : F Van Malleghem
Three days before a possible start to attempt to smash the Jules Verne Trophy record time, Francis Joyon has confirmed amber mode is ongoing for the crew of the IDEC SPORT trimaran, which includes Bernard Stamm (SUI), Gwénolé Gahinet (FRA), Alex Pella (ESP), Clément Surtel (FRA) and Boris Herrmann (GER). With his router, Marcel Van Triest, Joyon is still talking about a possible weather opportunity on Saturday.
Crédit : JM Liot
To undertake the crewed around-the-world record is as much about the human adventure as it is a technical and sporting challenge. The men and women working alongside Dona Bertarelli and Yann Guichard at Spindrift racing have been preparing this race against the clock for almost three years. The target: to sail around the world in less than 45 days, 13 hours and 42 minutes. The tough record they will try to beat was set by Loïck Peyron and his crew in 2012 on Banque Populaire V, which was renamed Spindrift 2 a year later.
Crédit : E Stichelbaut
The trimaran Spindrift 2 has been relaunched in Vannes, following months of optimisation in preparation for the huge challenge of a new around-the-world record attempt during the winter of 2015-16. Hours of meticulous planning, calculations, innovations and implementations carried out by the research and technical teams put together by Dona Bertarelli and Yann Guichard make this 2015 version of the largest racing trimaran in the world entirely the work of Spindrift racing.
The fourteen sailors aboard the Maxi trimaran Banque Populaire V just entered history of offshore racing by becoming the fastest men around the globe with crew, after 45 days 13 hours 42 minutes 53 seconds of sailing*. Loïck Peyron and his crew improved the reference time of the Jules Verne Trophy held by Groupama 3 since March 2010 by 2 days 18 hours 1 minute and 59 seconds.
Credit : BPCE
After running into an ‘unidentified floating object’ overnight from Wednesday to Thursday, Pascal Bidegorry and his men had to head North for a while, in order to reach better sea and wind conditions to lift the daggerboard out of its case and evaluate the extent of the damage. The operation, which took about three hours, showed that the impact tore 2m20 of the submerged part and confirmed the disappearance of the crashbox. Brought back on deck, the daggerboard currently takes full attention from the Maxi Banque Populaire V crew, which is doing everything possible with the means available on board to get back to normal racing on this Jules Verne Trophy.
