Breeze dies for Joyon

1,328 miles to go on Route of Discovery attempt

This morning at 11:42 Francis Joyon had 1,328 miles to go on his attempt on the Route of Discovery record between Cadiz, Spain and the island of San Salvador in the Bahamas. To break the record held by Steve Fossett and the crew of PlayStation, Joyon must finish no later than 11:05:58 this Sunday (21 November), meaning he must average 442.6 miles per day down the rhumb line or an average speed of 18.44 knots over the next three days.

This pace is entirely feasible in a 90ft trimaran but will be made harder by Joyon having run out of wind this morning. The data polled from IDEC this morning show her to be making just 6.45 knots (effectively standstill on a 90ft tri) on a course of 220deg in 4-5 knots of wind as he passes through a frontal zone.

In the conditions Joyon reports he is sailing under full main and Solent jib - the Code 0 is damaged and won't fly properly in the conditions and seems to slow the boat down when he hoists it.

The light winds and left over swell are taking their toll on the boat which is not powered up and therefore crashing around a bit, and Joyon reports the block on the 2:1 main halyard has broken and has had to be repaired. The block is made in titanium and has a breaking load of 9 tonnes...

Overnight Joyon has had little sleep as he has had to tend the boat but expected the trade winds to fill in for this evening or tonight by which time he will be up to speed again. At present a giant area of high pressure is located to the eaast of Florida and this should make for a useful east or north easterly flow allowing Joyon to make good progress into the finish line once he gybes. But will his progress be enough to break PlayStation's record?