Francis Joyon and his crew of five went to Brest this morning to prepare to set sail aboard IDEC SPORT to conquer the Jules Verne Trophy. The most recent weather files received from Marcel Van Triest, the weather expert and router look less favourable this morning. The possibility of getting to the Equator in six days seems to be less and less likely. The team, which was planning to set off from Ushant on Saturday morning, has not gone to Code Green for the moment, because of these more pessimistic forecasts.
A few days ago Francis Joyon, in association with their router looked at all the weather models and thought he could seize an opportunity tomorrow morning (Saturday 12th November). But the latest changes in the North Atlantic have clouded the situation.
“The latest data shows a high from Mauritania will be shutting off the trade winds, which would mean that the crew would have to go much further west to get to the Equator and in so doing would be several hours behind the record they are aiming to beat,” explained Marcel Van Triest.
Looking towards the Equator
In these conditions, there is no question about leaving for now. The weather for the Jules Verne Trophy attempt requires a reliable and stable situation to be able to get to the Equator in a decent time and to cross the Southern Hemisphere. This is as far ahead as they can look to take advantage of good weather, as after that it is much more a guessing game at this point.
