Thursday, February 14, 2013
Francis Joyon is poised to succeed his bet on the Discovery Route. On Thursday afternoon, he did more than 280 miles to cover to cut the finish line in San Salvador. After being slowed yesterday, IDEC found speeds of around 20 knots and should ultimately bring its own record below 9 days! Arrival tomorrow Friday!
Almost direct route or a little less than 300 miles to go, the maxi trimaran IDEC has found a few hours speeds of around 20 knots. After much maneuvering yesterday – as expected – to negotiate quiet areas south of an anticyclone, Francis Joyon has managed to preserve half of the advance he had known garner far, approximately 200 miles 400. This should be enough to raise that reaching the goal set at the beginning of Cadiz is exactly 8 days, ie “win ten hours.”
The final gain will probably nearly double that envisaged since IDEC should cut the finish line in the morning tomorrow, Friday, February 15. In any case well before the scheduled deadline to improve its own record on this course in 2008 (9 days and 20 h), knowing that to do IDEC must happen before Saturday 9:21 French time.
Below 9 days … without routing!
“If all goes well, I get in fact in the morning tomorrow, Friday,” confirms Francis Joyon phone Thursday, “even if it takes to negotiate the final calm. Having said that, I have a little more wind provided that the files “welcomes the driver of the maxi trimaran IDEC.
Recall that this genuine performance will be carried out in unprecedented conditions, since Francis Joyon road itself without outside help. And this road to discovery is yet more complex than the most prestigious record in the North Atlantic. Indeed, in this sense, the solo sailor is forced to deal with a series of weather systems which are linked, and therefore transition zones never easy to manage and time consuming. This is what largely explains why sailors always put more time in the west-east direction between New York and the Lizard, where – from east to west so – the game is to surf high speed trains transatlantic depressions. This record is also another program Francis Joyon this year. IDEC and is now on the right side of the Atlantic to put on stand-by in New York in the spring arrives. Another challenge … but not anticipate. For now, Joyon must complete its transatlantic journey there will be time tomorrow morning to get out the calculators!