Traversing the high

South Atlantic hurdle fails to slow Francis Joyon

Position at 08/12/2003 07:58GMT: 32deg 38.20' S 12deg 12.44' W
Distance from start: 5911.83 MN
Speed/course: 16.29 knots /109°

Francis Joyon on board his 90ft trimaran IDEC, continues to make incredible progress in his bid to be the fastest singlehanded non-stop sailor around the world. He has cut the corner off the South Atlantic high and despite apparently being in relatively light conditions according to the forecast charts his progress has slowed only very slightly.

The last 24 hour up until 0800GMT this morning show Joyon having put in yet another 400 mile days and while his speeds yesterday (Sunday) morning had dropped to around 12-13 knots, overnight they have been back up to 16-17knots as he continues under full main and small genniker.

"I have kept the wind all the time over the last two days," said Joyon earlier. "The wind has been northwest and I have constantly kept the pressure one the course gradually changing from 120° to 100°, with 15 knots all the time. Saturday I only covered about 350 miles because there was a large swell of south - you can already feel the Southern Ocean and its depressions." The conditions are such that Joyon is able to lay a direct course to the south of the Cape of Good Hope.

On board the temperature is dropping rapidly and Joyon has swopped sun hat and shades for the more chilly greyer conditions of the south.

The next 24 hours will see Joyon hook into the strong westerlies blowing to the north of a massive Southern Ocean depression centred at 48degS and if he is luckily it will rollercoaster ride for him all the way to Cape Horn. It will be interesting to see how the Frenchman plays these depression. It is likely that he will not be looking for the strongest winds and will probably sail a relatively long route to search for the flattest water.

At present he is still 1.5 days ahead of Sport Elec, the same boat he is currently on board, when she was raced for the Jules Verne Trophy in 1997. However a feature of de Kersauson's voyage on that occasion was a relatively slow passage out of the Atlantic - and it seems unlikely that Joyon will be able to hold his lead.