The IDEC SPORT maxi trimaran was unable to cut across it. The low that they have been using to gallop across the ocean since New Zealand has finally filled under the influence of an area of high pressure.
During the night, they have been crossing an area of high pressure with very little wind, in order to get to the stronger westerly air stream 350 miles further south. The speed has dropped off and the progress of the crew towards the east and Cape Horn has suffered, as expected. Francis Joyon and his crew of five are having to negotiate their way down with a series of gybes to find the rare patches of wind in the heart of the high. The way out of this area is at the moment at 50 degrees south. Idec Sport gybed three times during the night and this is set to continue throughout the day with changes of tack under gennaker in order to get to the latitudes, where the virtual rival Banque Populaire V was sailing on her 26th day of racing four years ago. She too was considerably slowed down in this area. Idec Sport overtook her rival in terms of longitude during the night, but is still around 280 miles north of the route taken in 2011 by Loïck Peyron and his crew of twelve. Sailing 2600 miles from Cape Horn, Idec Sport is today tackling the most crucial and decisive part of the South Pacific crossing.
