Too good to be true

Joyon misses outright Route of Discovery record but sets new solo time

One year to the day since he set out on his epic solo non-stop record breaking voyage around the world Francis Joyon completed his attempt on the Route of Discovery record, once again sailing solo this time between Cadiz and San Salvador, but alas outside of the record time.

Joyon's trimaran IDEC reached the Bahamas in a time of 11 days, 3 hours, 18 minutes and 20 seconds, outside of PlayStation's fully crewed time of 9d 13h 30m, not far off Grant Dalton's previous record set with Bruno Peyron on Club Med of 10 days 14 hours, but faster than the 75ft catamaran Jet Services V's 1988 record of 12 days 12 hours and very much faster than the two months Columbus took with his ships the Santa Maria, Pinta and Nina 530 years ago... However for all of the World Sailing Speed Record Council's passage records there is a singlehanded record and Joyon has now established a highly respectible benchmark for this.

This 3,884 mile passage is always a tricky one weatherwise as there is a risk of getting becalmed and this occurred twice with Joyon on Wednesday and Thursday last week. However the speed of his trimaran was blistering over the first six days of the record and Joyon says he averaged 17.5 knots for the final Trade Wind run up to the Bahamas. "I am on my knees, but I'm satisfied to have maintained the rate/rhythm," explained Joyon after he has moored up last night. By the finish the wind had built to 25 knots and Joyon had spent much time on the helm, going below only briefly to check his navigation.

"I think I drove the boat to the optimum and that is a reason for satisfaction for me," said Joyon adding that picking a window weather was hard for this course. "The course of the Route of Discovery is not simple, because conditions are much more variable than they are on the traditional transat course further north where one knows with some certainly what the weather will be like when one finishes. And I had to sail approximately 20% further than the direct route. The course is officially of 3950 miles, I covered 4800 from time to time sailing with 60° off course." "

Joyon is happy nonetheless and calculates that if he had sailed around the world non-stop at the pace he maintained across the Atlantic he would have made the circumnavigation in 66 days.

During the voyage the boat experienced a few relatively minor technical problems such as a broken mainsail halyard block, but Joyon says that now it is in a perfect state. "Compared to last year, we have lightened the boat a lot and that has made it more responsive - that has made a really obvious difference."