The Famous Project CIC’s maxi trimaran IDEC SPORT is in a gentle southeasterly trade wind of around 12 knots off Salvador de Bahia.
At 10:30 hrs Wednesday 10 Dec they were sailing at 23 knots and had covered 3,944 nm. This put them 1,399 nm off the record pace of Francis Joyon in 2017.
All minds are already focused on the big challenge of the weekend, the highly strategic transition between the current trade wind regime, and the disturbed systems of the South Atlantic and its powerful port winds.
The IDEC SPORT Maxi Trimaran will gradually round its course to bypass the Saint Helena High and rush into its southern edge where these powerful winds rage, towards the other major landmarks of this Jules Verne Trophy, the Cape of Good Hope and its neighbor, Cape Agulhas.
Alexia Barrier: On the shoulders of giants:
“I looked at the reference times at the equator. We clearly don’t have the same score as IDEC SPORT, Francis Joyon, Banque Populaire, or Spindrift. But there are also great sailors on this list, such as Kersauzon, the Peyron brothers, Steve Fossett, and Peter Blake, and we are on that list.
We have stood on the shoulders of giants to write our story. The equator marks the first chapter of our adventure.
The south will require a great deal of humility and finesse from us. The north got us started, the equator got us into the game, and the south will put us to the test. We’re not going to fight the south, but rather work with it.”
The crew :
Alexia Barrier (46) – France – Captain
Dee Caffari (53) – Great Britain – First Officer
Annemieke Bes (47) – Netherlands
Rebecca “Bex” Gmuer (25) – Switzerland & New Zealand
Deborah “Debs” Blair (23) – Great Britain
Molly LaPointe (30) – American & Italian – Boat Captain
Tamara “Xiquita” Echegoyen (41) – Spain
Stacey Jackson (42) – Australia
