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Francis Joyon’s Latest Solo Benchmark

Francis Joyon, the tireless solo record breaker, established a new passage-making benchmark with his arrival at Rio this week.

© 2014 IDEC Group

With all of Francis Joyon’s major records (solo around the world, solo 24-hour, and both solo transatlantics) coming under attack within a period of just six months, the Frenchman did something truly innovative to stay on top: he created a new record route. Setting a reference time of 13d 3h 5m to cover the 4,812 miles from Bordeaux to Rio de Janeiro, Joyon and his 30-meter Nigel Irens-designed trimaran IDEC have established a new route that will provide a link between the two Atlantic-facing nations, and that will have commercial and charitable implications. With the Transat Jacques Vabre, Mini Transat and other races taking place between the two countries, one can only hope that this route gains some traction.

On standby for just four days before departing, Joyon and IDEC sailed away from Bordeaux on April 8 in light air before accelerating through the Bay of Biscay in a rare downwind escape from France. Slowed again in the North Atlantic and then forced to sail much farther west than would be ideal, the first half of the record attempt left much to be desired. IDEC suffered multiple failures of connecting rods linking the central main rudder to the outboard rudders on each ama. Forced to swap out connecting rods each time he gibed the boat, Joyon eventually fixed the problem permanently and then raced to Rio, where he faced an upwind finish.

Aiming toward the world-famous Sugarloaf Mountain, IDEC glides into Rio at the end of her recent sprint from France.

© IDEC Group

With Joyon’s previous records beginning to fall — Armel le Cleac’h and Banque Populaire VII just shattered his Route of Discovery and 24-hour records, and now le Cleac’h has his sights set firmly on besting Joyon’s west-to-east Transatlantic record this summer — Joyon and IDEC will have to find another gear to remain relevant in the world of solo maxi-trimaran racing.

In addition to Banque Pop VII, Francois Gabart and MACIF are building an all-new boat, Thomas Coville and Sodebo are modifying Olivier de Kersauson’s old Geronimo, and Yann Guichard is preparing to race Spindrift 2 (ex- Banque Pop V) in this November’s Route du Rhum, which is already reaching a boiling point in the lead-up to next year’s inauguration of a new ‘league’ for solo maxi-tris called Collectif Ultim

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