Francis Joyon and the crew of his maxi-trimaran IDEC SPORT regretably have gone back to Code Red, meaning that they will have to wait for more favourable conditions before starting their attempt at the Jules Verne Trophy. While conditions remain excellent in the North Atlantic and even exceptional, the situation in the South Atlantic is very unfavorable.
Francis Joyon and his men, Clément Surtel, Gwénolé Gahinet, Bernard Stamm, Alex Pella et Boris Herrmann are patiently waiting in Brest, hoping for an improvement with the St Helena High in the middle of the week.
Francis Joyon says, “The conditions in the North Atlantic are practically ideal, but our routing says we would be one aand a half days or even two days behind off the Cape of Good Hope. The St. Helena high is currently a long way south forcing them to dive right down to sail downwind. This would be risky in terms of the extra distance we would have to sail and the presence of ice in those latitudes.”
