Joyon on standby from 10 April

IDEC currently awaiting refit in Guadeloupe prior to solo Transat record attempt

Francis Joyon and his trimaran IDEC will be on stand-by for an attempt at the singlehanded transatlantic record from 10 April. Joyon, who is getting ready to rejoin his faithful boat in Guadeloupe, has also just announced that he will be using the services of the meteorological expert Jean-Yves Bernot for his routing.

“I’ll be back with the boat at the end of the week,” Francis Joyon commented. “I’m taking the halyards, electronics and all the little parts that go on board with me. I sent the new gennakers on by plane and the new sails are being overhauled by Incidences in Guadeloupe. We’re going to have to refit all that, as the boat is in bits all over the place at the moment. However, the central hull and the floats are attached to each other, so there’s no problem on that score!”
 
Full of zest, Francis admits he can’t wait to return to his huge three-hulled companion, and back out on the seas - the first voyage will be the trip up to New York, where the boat is expected to arrive by the first week of April. Initially, the skipper thought he would sail alone and maybe try for the 24-hour record en route, but he had to change his
plans due to logistical constraints. “When we get to New York, we’re going to have to change marinas quite often, and it is impossible to carry out harbour manoeuvres alone aboard this boat.” That is without counting the risk of damage that could result from this, just before tackling the New York-Lizard record.

As Francis points out with the singlehanded transatlantic record, the “main difficulty is going to be that we have to go fast all the time. The average speed is so high, that there’s no time to hang around. The slightest weather hitch, the slightest hold up and the record is out of our grasp. The weather has to be just right over the six days.”

Hence his decision to make the attempt using the help of Bernot's routing expertise: “This is a vital tool, which is allowed for the record. The Atlantic record is the one with the fastest average speed in singlehanded sailing. The chances of beating it on one attempt are low and all the attempts over the past ten years have failed. You really have to ensure luck is with you by using all the available means.” Based in La Rochelle Jean-Yves Bernot is an expert at North Atlantic routing and was with the Jet Services team when they successfully set a fully crewed record in the 1990s and also worked for Mari Cha III during her fully crewed attempt in 1998.

“Jean-Yves and myself have already worked together a lot,” Francis said, “he looked after me during the Route du Rhum. When I capsized, he was the person I called up first. Jean-Yves is a sailor, who can put himself in the shoes of the man out on deck. That’s a very important element, which plays a major role in our ability to work well together.”

Atlantic record statistics:

- New York-The Lizard route (theoretical distance calculated by the
WSSRC): 2925 miles (5,417 km)
- Single-handed record: Laurent Bourgnon, Primagaz, 7 days 2 hours 34
minutes 42 seconds
(June 1994)
- 24-hour single handed record: Laurent Bourgnon, Primagaz, 540 miles
(June 1994)

About Idec:

in 1996 the Acanthe Ingeierie Group became merged by Patrice LaFargue, its founder and current CEO. Set up to offer a complete range of services dedicated to business property construction, it is divided into five branches:
IDEC, civil engineering firm, general construction work, IDEC IBERICA
in Spain
PROSDIM, investment company
PHARMADEC, engineering firm working in the area of pharmaceutical and cosmetic products
ACANTHE PROMOTION, property developer
ALBAT, Construction management
Based in Blois, the Acanthe Ingeniere Group had a turnover in 2003 of 60 million Euros. Among their clients, BMW, NESTLE, POMONA, MC CAIN, PROLOGIS, CARREFOUR, LA POSTE, AVENTIS.