Joyon Continues Phenomenal Record Pace
"On Sunday, the ground team for Francis Joyon and his magnificent 97-ft trimaran IDEC were hoping to gain another day on Ellen MacArthur’s previous record with B&Q Castorama from the Cape of Good Hope to Cape Leeuwin," reports Javier de Muns, our man in Brittany, "and they got it. Joyon’s improvement to date over MacArthur on the round the world solo attempt now stands at more than seven days.
But what’s even more impressive is that Joyon also beat — by 21 minutes — the record for that stretch set by Bruno Peyron and his fully-crewed 121-ft Orange II in ’05. Even the modest and even-tempered Joyon was astonished to learn that he’d set another new record. "That’s really classy, isn’t it?" he joked.
It’s also interesting to compare the condition of MacArthur during her great record-setting run, and Joyon during his current attempt. MacArthur was, understandably, in a state of near mental and physical exhaustion for much of her trip. Joyon, despite having dramatically improved on her pace, is being described as "serene."
In fact, being only 700 miles from the Antarctic, Joyon took the opportunity to encourage the world’s governments to reach an agreement to combat global warming so, among other things, the ice of the Antarctic and the wildlife living on it could be preserved.
In the big picture, Joyon is now less than 1,000 miles away from the halfway point of the course. If he covers it in two days, as is likely, he’ll have covered the distance in 24 days. That means he could sail two days slower on the second half and still beat Orange II‘s around the world record with a crewed boat!
But Joyon’s ground team is being even more cautious than they were a week ago, pointing out that Joyon’s challenge is to beat MacArthur’s record, not the crewed record. The reason is simple. During MacArthur’s record run, she reached Cape Horn four days ahead of Joyon’s old record with the previous IDEC and, due to adverse weather conditions, lost almost all of that advantage between the Horn and the equator.
On the other hand, the majority of top French multihull skippers — including Yvan Bourgnon, whose 24-hour solo record Joyon just beat — believe that what Joyon has done so far proves the potential he and his boat have.
Being human, Joyon hasn’t succeeded in all his endeavors. Last Friday, for example, in light winds that slowed his average speed to just 17 knots, he said, "I’m feeling kind of weird, not seeing spray and waves constantly over my boat." Seemingly impervious to the cold, the mental stress, and the physical rigors, he decided it would be a perfect time for some recreation. So he built himself a whistle with the goal of "taming" a group of petrels flying above IDEC. Alas, the birds completely ignored him and his whistle.