Jules Verne Trophy - Jumping onto a moving train

by Spindrift Racing on 1 Dec 2015 2015 Jules Verne Trophy - After the speed of the North Atlantic, Spindrift 2’s crew have had to show some patience since entering the Southern hemisphere. The area of the St Helena High offers dreamy temperatures and starry nights, but these are a quite different kind of comfort from the ones those chasing records look out for.

The slowdown along the north-east coast of Brazil was visible on the forecasts and is now in the wake of the trimaran but, crucially, their lead on the record has obviously melted. Now level with Porte Alegre, with an average speed of 23 knots over the last 24 hours, the trimaran keeps making good progress and the crew gybed at midday in order to stay with the wind on the edge of the anticyclone.

At the chart table as on deck, all eyes are on the cold front, right in front of them, that they need to hook onto to finally get on the low pressure train currently at the Buenos Aires South station. It would allow them to settle in on the Deep South mainline, but the situation is not simple and the clock is ticking. They have to get there on time... we will find out if they have tonight.

Day 9 – 16h00 GMT
65 miles ahead of the current record holder
Distance covered from the start: 5191 miles
Average speed over 24 hours: 23,3 knots