Francis Joyon has made land on his Maxi-trimaran IDEC, and set a new world sailing record* for the Discovery Route from Cadiz, Spain.
With a time of 9 days, 20 hours, and 35 minutes, IDEC has beat the previous record set by Thomas Coville, and added yet another feat to Joyon’s collection (Joyon also holds the ’round the world solo record). This route is an approximation of the course that Columbus took in 1492 when it is often said he “discovered” the new world (though the Americas were already populated, and had been visited previously by other Europeans).
While Columbus’ ponderous little fleet took 70 days to make the journey, Joyon and IDEC did it in less than 10. A rather dramatic improvement, and an amazing feat even if Joyon wasn’t sailing solo – but of course he was. With little sleep, and in fact little sitting, Joyon has set the bar higher, and IDEC has further established the trimaran at the top of performance designs.
Many armchair “experts” declared last week that Joyon would not make the record, due to the fact that he hit some light air along the course. What they forgot was that Coville also had some calm winds in 2005, as in fact did Columbus and crew. Joyon made the most of what the conditions offered, and as the breezes built, he had IDEC fairly flying along as he neared the Bahamas, and crossed the line this morning.