Francis Joyon and his international Dream Team comprising the Swiss sailor, Bernard Stamm, the Spaniard, Alex Pella, the German, Boris Herrmann,the Frenchmen, Clément Surtel and Gwénolé Gahinet, without forgetting their onshore router, the Dutchman, Marcel van Triest, are quietly entering the stand-by phase for their second attempt at the Jules Verne Trophy, the outright crewed round the world record.
The Maxi trimaran, IDEC SPORT, now on stand-by is the focus of attention in La Trinité sur Mer in Brittany. Once the generator has been fitted later today, they will be ready to head for Brest once a weather opportunity presents itself. After just a few training sessions, Francis and his crew have got back into the swing of things, working in harmony together, and enjoying themselves, as they did during the 47 days they spent together sailing around the world last year. They learnt a lot and some improvements have been made to the boat and her handling. Now it is patience that is required from Francis over the next few days, as he waits for code amber and code green, meaning the start of a new series of adventures for IDEC SPORT and this amazing crew.
“It’s because of what we experienced last year, that we want to set off again,” said Gwénolé Gahinet, the youngest member of the crew, who is happily working on the final little details to allow them to set sail on this new attempt at the Jules Verne Trophy. “We all learnt a lot about the boat and ourselves from this experience in 2015,” he explained, “and we’ll be setting sail united as a team.” Francis Joyon, the solo record breaker, has succeeded in his move to become captain of the team and is pleased about what each of his men is able to contribute. The whole crew rediscovered the power of the boat during a few training sessions. “We managed to check a few modifications made to the sails, which should make life easier for us at sea,” added Guéno. “Once the engine and propeller shaft have been removed, IDEC SPORT will be in race mode. No further trips are planned, as the big trimaran will no longer be able to manoeuvre in the harbour. We’ll only head for Brest, once we see a potential weather opportunity on the horizon,” explained Francis.
There will be more and more discussions with Marcel van Triest. A few days ago, they caught a glimpse of a possible opportunity, with routing programmes telling them it would take 5 and a half days to get to the Equator, if they set off on Sunday. “But this opportunity vanished as quickly as it appeared,” Francis told us. “In October and November, these situations, which would allow IDEC SPORT to get to the Equator in good time, are quite common. We need to look beyond that intermediate time and ensure we can easily hop from one system to another down to the South Atlantic, insisted Captain Joyon. “We are clearly impatient to get going and rediscover those ocean horizons again. There’s a great atmosphere on board and we’re really motivated. But now, we have to remain patient, as whether we get this incredible record will be down to a few little things.”
