The quiet smile says it all… Francis Joyon relaxes in Mauritius shortly before Covid shut everything down after breaking his own record on Idec Sport from Port Louis Brittany to Port Louis Mauritius, covering 8,100nm in just shy of 20 days at an average speed of 17.1kt – a relatively gentle outing compared with Joyon’s breathtaking 40-day Jules Verne mark set on the same ageing 103ft tri. The great combination of Idec entering the south in perfect conditions on their epic Jules Verne run and a skipper capable of averaging over 35kt for 4,000nm to stay ‘in phase’ delivered a record that today’s fastest Ultim foilers know they will need some luck to match
however, that Sodebo seems very fast in less than 20-25kt of wind. The combination of lightness and foils works perfectly in the medium wind, and on relatively flat seas. ‘Thomas and his men were very fine in the South Atlantic, and
in the way they managed the weather systems.’ Just before Sodebo had to retire, after passing the Kerguelen Islands in the Indian Ocean Francis noted: ‘Their speed in the strong wind this week seems quite equivalent to ours.’ Four years ago at this point on the course Idec Sport began an
incredible run through the Indian Ocean, averaging 850nm a day over six days. Sodebo, very fast in the South Atlantic, travelled 888.5nm in 24 hours on 5 December. Idec Sport had swallowed 894nm averaging 37.25kt. At this breathtaking pace Joyon and his five friends passed the
longitude of Cape Leeuwin just 4d 9h 37m after rounding the Cape of Good Hope, an average speed of 35.08kt… for 3,705 miles! Or 842 miles per 24 hours!! At that time the Jules Verne record to break was held by the 40m
trimaran Banque Populaire V (skipper Loïck Peyron), now named Spindrift, in 45d 13h. Idec Sport left Brest late in December 2016 to try to break the
record. At the crossing of the Cape of Good Hope the well-named Idec Sport had conceded a day to the blue and white giant, but she was already on the highway. At Kerguelen on day 15 she was already equal to BP V. On day 20, passing along the south of New Zealand, she was two days ahead. On day 27 Idec rounded Cape Horn. BP would round it four days later… Mass is said. It took ‘Express’ Idec a week to complete the course from Good
Hope to pass New Zealand at a staggering average of almost 35kt. She finally broke Mr Peyron’s record by four and a half days. Huge! Francis Joyon remembers: ‘When we restarted for the third time
from Brest our routeur Marcel Van Triest told us that it was not a good window and that we would only have maybe one chance in four or five to catch a good weather system in the south and that we would round Good Hope well behind the previous records. We had already tried twice with better weather at the start… ‘The moral of the story is that you must try, because in spite of
all the latest technology weather will never be an exact science.’ In fact, the whole problem of the Jules Verne Trophy and timing
the start well lies in the meteorological uncertainty as you approach the Roaring Forties. Idec Sport was lucky enough to be able to slip into the right spot on a warm front moving in the right direction, heading east at the right average speed of 35kt: exactly the speed that the boat, pushed within its limits, could maintain. Still today Francis remembers, ‘We gave everything we could for
days and days often on a sea without visibility.’ Idec Sport still has the replacement smaller mast asked for by Franck Cammas to win the Route du Rhum in 2010. Four years later Loïck Peyron is the winner of the same Route du Rhum on the same boat called Banque Populaire VII. And, in 2018, the VPLP design is once again the first boat to cross the finishing line in Pointe à Pitre as Idec Sport, helmed by… Francis Joyon. A few months before the 2010 Route du Rhum Groupama 3,
skippered by Franck Cammas, set a new Jules Verne Record in 48 days. After she became Idec Sport Francis had not made any crucial changes on this fantastic boat. He told us: ‘The foils have been lengthened by 20 per cent, but watch carefully and at no time do the hull and floats come out of the water. Elevators were added to the outside rudders but they were removed for reliability during our recent Asian Tour (a journey as long as a round-the-world and sailed in sometimes very hard conditions). ‘I had the elevators during the Route du Rhum. Arriving in
SEAHORSE 23
FRED CUSIN/ALEA
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104 |
Page 105 |
Page 106 |
Page 107 |
Page 108 |
Page 109 |
Page 110
