Joyon’s Trans-Atlantic record bid hits snag
The setback occurred just as Joyon was about to embark on the ocean voyage, chasing the record of five days, 19 hours, 30 minutes and 40 seconds, set in 2008 by compatriot Thomas Coville, a spokeswoman said.
Joyon, 55, was approaching the starting line at Ambrose lighthouse in heavy rain and poor visibility when he discovered a crack in one of the cross-beams of the bright red trimaran “Idec,” a spokeswoman said.
“The skipper explained that they had apparently collided with a navigational buoy. The attempt at the record for crossing the Atlantic was therefore delayed,” the spokeswoman said in a statement.
Joyon returned to the New York marina for repairs “that Francis will take care of alone,” the statement said.
He had been hoping to embark late Sunday, taking advantage of a depression that brought strong south-westerly winds. Traveling at about 25 knots, the 97-foot (29.7 meters) trimaran was set to cover 2,925 miles (5,417 kilometers) between the Big Apple and the Lizard headland in Cornwall, southwestern Britain.
It was unclear when the next opportunity for an attempt on the record might come.
For the veteran extreme racing sailor, leaving with the right weather pattern for a fast crossing meant all the difference between success and failure. He’d been on standby for six weeks before deciding to take his chance Sunday.
“As is often the case, especially in this period of late summer, the meteorological picture in the North Atlantic doesn’t add up perfectly,” his team said in a statement before Sunday’s aborted start.
Joyon had called Sunday “by far the best opportunity we’ve had since we went on stand-by.”
In 2008, he set the record for a single-handed world circumnavigation of 57 days, 13 hours, 34 minutes and six seconds.