This afternoon in the Roaring Forties, the trimaran IDEC SPORT attempting to smash the Jules Verne Trophy record passed a 700m long iceberg. An incredible sight for the sailors.
We knew this morning that the risk of encountering an iceberg was highly likely. It has just happened. The sailors on IDEC SPORT saw and fimed a huge lump of ice this afternoon at around 1600hrs. Even Francis Joyon had never seen such a sight before.
He declared, “It was an iceberg which was 700m long and 100m high at 43° S. We could see bits breaking off and falling into the sea. An amazing sight! It was probably a bit of the pack ice measuring several kilometres in length that had split into bits in the warmer waters. There were several large bits a few miles away from us.”
The sailors on IDEC SPORT are not likely to forget this close encounter. They even took the time to take pictures and film this rare event.
