Jules Verne Trophy – Taking a break in the Falklands

by IDEC Sport Sailing on 13 Jan 2017 Jules Verne Trophy – It may seem strange, but the crew of IDEC Sport seemed to enjoy the passage yesterday evening through a patch of light winds NW of the Falklands. They were pleased to be able to take a breather after the full-on performance in the Southern Ocean and were able to carry out an inspection of the boat. Some damage had been noted in the past few days, but nothing significant, and they have now been able to deal with that.

Clément Surtel, Sébastien Audigane, Gwénolé Gahinet, Bernard Stamm, Alex Pella and Francis Joyon took advantage of the calm to admire the natural world around the Falklands. They did not have to wait long for the Argentinean low to appear. Francis Joyon gybed onto the starboard tack early this morning to allow them to head northwards into warmer climes. The substantial lead they had at Cape Horn has only been slightly affected by this slowdown and with IDEC Sport less than 6500 miles from the finish, they still hold a lead of 1850 miles over the title-holder, Banque Populaire V.