The fantastic voyage

Francis Joyon provides feedback on his 57 day solo circumnavigation

IDEC 2 set sail from Brest on Friday 23 November 2007 at 11:05, in a northeasterly flow, which reached 25 knots off Brittany. To beat Ellen MacArthur’s record, IDEC had to complete her circumnavigation in less than 71 days, 14 hours and 18 minutes, or in other words return before 3 February 2008 at 01:23. Easily recognisable with her very long central hull, the Irens/Cabaret design was fast out of the blocks and stuck to the strategy laid out beforehand by her router, Jean-Yves Bernot: a gybe in the Bay of Biscay, then working hard to maintain the speed all the way to the trade winds.

Joyon predicted it would take him eight days to reach the Equator. However, from the outset, he achieved averages of 22 knots covering 500 miles per day exceeding all expectations: Cape Finisterre on the first day, past the Azores and Madeira on the second, the Canaries on the third and Cape Verdes on the fourth… "The weather opportunity was really good," Joyon said, never finding enough words to praise the way his boat handled the seas.

At this same intense pace, IDEC crossed the Equator on Friday 30 November, after six days and a little under 18 hours: two days ahead of Ellen MacArthur and just ten hours less than Orange II in the Jules Verne Trophy!

Hardly slowed down at all by the Doldrums, after ten days of sailing on 3 December, IDEC2 was already off Rio de Janeiro, with a lead of 800 miles over the record. IDEC2 then had to go and find a small low-pressure centre, which would open the route to Southern Ocean. With the St Helena high pressure moving east, IDEC was to able to take a short cut across the South Atlantic directly towards the Roaring Forties at an average speed of 25 knots. As a on 8 December, IDEC establish an incredible new record to the Cape of Good Hope, of 15 days, 7 hours and 16 minutes at an average speed of 20.12 knots! Her lead over Ellen at this stage had risen to four days.

Ahead of the cold front preceeding a Southern Ocean depression, IDEC2 took on the Indian Ocean at full speed: 560 miles, then 600 miles in one day! The pace achieved by Joyon was equatable to that achieved with a full crew and on 12 December, while in the proximity of the Kerguelen Islands, with only the albatrosses as witnesses, Joyon smashed the 24 hour solo speed record covering 616 miles at an average speed of 25.66 knots (a record subsequently improved upon to 619 miles by Thomas Coville a few weeks later). On Sunday 16 December, IDEC reached Cape Leeuwin, in the South of Australia seven days ahead of the record. On Tuesday 18 December, to the south of Tasmania, Joyon smashed the Indian Ocean record setting a new time of 9 days and 12 hours, or three days better than Ellen MacArthur and only 59 minutes slower than Orange II. "With some rabid dogs snapping at your heels, you go faster," joked Francis. However, things were to be very different in the Pacific.

In fact, after speeding along at the front of a low there was now a high threatening to becalm IDEC2 as she crossed the Pacific. To the south of New Zealand, he was already down at 54degS, sailing down mountainous seas under heavy black clouds threatening heavy rain and gale force winds. These forced him to manoeuvre in order to find the best way through so as not to get stuck. On the 27th day of racing, IDEC was already at the halfway point of her round the world voyage. However, in order to keep up high average speeds and escape from the calms, he had to go further and further south, thus entering the iceberg zone.

Francis Joyon’s Christmas was a little special. Sailing under stormsail, IDEC went through hell: 40, 45 then 50 knots, nasty seas, 7 metre waves breaking, all at the same time as he negotiated a minefield of icebergs. A good reason to get angry with nature, but that is not Joyon’s style. Francis, the ecologist sent a message 'to all the children, who want to share my dream' for his next eco-message: "I realise now that the planet isn’t as big as all that. Previous generations thought it was infinite and drew on its resources, but we have now reached a key moment. The world still possesses all its beauty, but for the first time, man can put an end to that, if we are not careful. I believe children understand that better than adults, who are often too deeply involved in their daily lives to see what is going on. Only the children can wake them up and make them understand that the main thing is to allow the birds to fly in the forests, the bears to wander around the pack ice, the dolphins to surf on the waves of the oceans and in the end, for man to live in harmony with his planet."

To find the best course through the Pacific, IDEC2 had to go right down to 59degS, while the ice alert was at 52°S. However, he was rewarded after taking this route imposed on him by the weather conditions, when on Saturday 29 December at 23h31, IDEC2 reached Cape Horn in a time of just 35 days. This was yet another amazing achievement - averaging 21 knots on the route he actually covered (rather than the theoretical route). His lead over Ellen MacArthur was now up to nine and a half days.

After passing the South of America and returning to the Atlantic, IDEC2's slowdown was extremely sudden: Becalmed, sailing upwind - "twice the distance to cover and three times the effort required," as Joyon put it. IDEC was forced to tack up the coast of Argentina. 500 miles days a distant memory, IDEC2 could barely manage 300. Finally on the 40th day of sailing, Joyon managed to take advantage of a small corridor of wind, a little less unfavourable between a St Helena High and a low off South America. But from 4-8 January, the South Atlantic proved to be without mercy. Into the South Atlantic trade winds, the northerlies forced the Breton skipper to tack again and again, while the trimaran was badly shaken up in the rough seas. "I suffer, when I see my boat suffering," sighed Francis. For Joyon, the only thing to do was wait until the trades veered east allowing him to get back up to speed again. On 8 January, he managed this, while on 9 January the speedo was back up above 20 knots and in spite of a problem the rudder on IDEC2's port float getting misaligned (quickly repaired). This fixed, IDEC2 sped off towards the Equator back up to full speed. IDEC2 passed back into the North Atlantic on 10 January in a time of 48 days, 2 hours and 18 minutes… 12 and a half days ahead of the record, despite a sticky South Atlantic passage.

However, the next day, disaster struck. The mainsail halyard snapped in two and when Joyon aloft to repair it, he discovered some much more serious damage: the pin holding the starboard shroud to the mast was coming unscrewed. If it came out fully, it would mean IDEC2 was certain to dismast: 50 days of extreme effort would be reduced to nothing in a fraction of a second. The suspense was unbearable: would the hold out or not? Joyon injured his ankle as he scaled the mast, but three times in a horrible cross sea. Under reduced sail, and selecting a more suitable route, to ease the tension on the shroud IDEC managed however to continue on her way at pace.

On 14 January, Francis said "it’s a bit tough, as the boat is now very tired". A master of understatement, as there was more damage to come. Sailing upwind in 28 knots of wind, the furler for the staysail gave way, a block that blew up in the process making a hole in the deck… The damage was quickly repaired, but the sword of Damocles remained hanging over Joyon with the shroud, which could pull out of the mast at any moment. As a period where IDEC2 was being thrown around by the waves generated by the Trade Winds it was finally on Wednesday 16 January, when Francis managed to climb back up IDEC’s mast for a fourth and final time and hammered for all his life the broken pin, jamming it into its socket to ensure it remained in place. The operation was successful and confidence returned for the worried skipper.

En route to the Bay of Biscay there was a very deep depression to be avoided but finally after negotiating some maritime traffic heading up the coast, Joyon achieved the remarkable feat as he arrived back in Brest: a 57 day circumnavigation, the record shattered by 14 days. Two whole weeks. Francis Joyon was already a very great sailor. It probably will not please him, but today he has become an icon, whom kids will look up to. Mr. Francis Joyon, a living legend.