Jules Verne Trophy – Record attempt – Day 3 + Video

by Spindrift racing on 25 Nov 2015 Jules Verne Trophy – While Spindrift 2 flies south in the slightly unstable trade winds, halfway between the Canaries and Cape Verde, the calmer conditions and less rough sea are allowing the boat and the sailors to dry out, to find a rhythm and get a little rest. After a gybe on the edge of the Azores High, which will be the only one in the entire North Atlantic, where Banque Populaire V had to make four, Spindrift 2 is now on a direct route to the equator and is 200 miles ahead.

17h GMT : 201 miles ahead the current record holder
Distance covered from the start: 1842 miles
Average speed over 24 hours: 30 knots

Message from Dona Bertarelli

'Goodbye thermal layers, big oilies and boots. Hello Crocs, sunglasses and sunscreen! It's getting a bit warmer and it’s nice. We’re still flying in a fluctuating wind of around 20 knots – on a straight line to the equator. We could not have asked for a better trajectory.

This morning we passed two sailboats. One of them, skippered by Gerald Véniard, an old Figaro sailor, joined us by radio. He left the Canaries yesterday and is delivering a boat to the Caribbean. It's good to come across people, as, once we’re in the Indian and especially in the Pacific Ocean, it’ll be more rare, actually, exceptional.'

Weather forecast by Jean-Yves Bernot

Tuesday, November 24: A trade wind system, 22-25 knots, direction east-north-east, quite unstable. Spindrift 2 is feeling the wind shadow of the Canaries, which is cast far below the islands.

Wednesday, November 25: same punishment, same reason. Approaching the Cape Verde Islands in the morning. The trade wind there appears to be very unstable. By late afternoon, approaching the Doldrums (ITCZ), which looks, in theory, obliging.

Thursday, November 26: Crossing the Doldrums, which as we’ve seen are not too active. An evening exit is predicted, with the crossing of the equator to follow on a south-east trade wind, which should be 15-20 knots.