After a short transition phase in the Inter-Tropical Convergence Zone, as Francis Joyon forecast, the IDEC SPORT maxi trimaran found the well established NE’ly air stream during the night, blowing from the coast of Mauritania to the West Indies.
This fast track should allow them to get up to the series of lows in the North Atlantic that are currently bringing bad weather and strong westerly winds to NW Europe. However, this does mean that that the wind is on the beam or they beating upwind. That is why their route for the moment is slightly towards the NW, in order to get around the so-called Azores high, which is located a long way south towards the Canaries at this time of year, because of the strength of the low-pressure areas further north. Idec Sport, like the maxi trimaran Banque Populaire V four years ago, is taking the long way around to get back to the tip of Brittany. But Joyon and his crew of five are back up to good speeds that they hope to keep in the next couple of days before the wind shifts to the west. They will then turn the bows around to face the French coast for the last part of the Atlantic. At the start of this 42nd day at sea, the deficit in miles in comparison to the record holder, Banque Populaire V is still being reduced and is now down to 585 miles with 3100 theoretical miles left to sail.
