On Sunday morning, Francis Joyon was ahead of his own record time set ten years ago on the Mauritius Route between Port Louis (Brittany) and Port Louis (Mauritius). The skipper of the IDEC SPORT maxi-trimaran passed Cape Finisterre early on Sunday morning and by lunchtime was 75 miles ahead of the record time. The first night of sailing was choppy with some fairly strong squalls.
Francis Joyon: “I had quite a few squalls, including one with 32 knots of wind under gennaker, so it was a bit scary. This morning, I’m sailing downwind with the next gybe planned for tonight. I hope to get a bit of sunshine, as for the moment it is very dull.” IDEC SPORT was sailing at noon in 17-18 knots of wind from the north and is continuing at good speed towards the islands of Madeira.
The atmosphere yesterday in La Trinité sur Mer and off Port Louis. It was at 9 in the morning local time that Francis Joyon and his crew cast off from his home port of La Trinité sur Mer to head for Port Louis. He crossed the start line for the Mauritiius Route at around 0930hrs UTC near the island of Groix. This short clip shows the early morning start.
