Joyon back in business

Amazing Frenchman will attempt to regain his solo Route of Discovery record

Eight months after he set a new record for sailing around the world singlehanded non-stop in 57 days - Francis Joyon and his maxi trimaran IDEC are off again to recover the Route of Discovery record between Cadiz and San Salvador, Bahamas. The record is presently held by Thomas Coville in a time of 10 days, 11 hours and 50 minutes.

Joyon will go on stand-by later this month in Cadiz, southern Spain, after the delivery from La Trinite-sur-Mer. To break the record for this route, originally taken by Christopher Columbus, his 'red arrow' - as IDEC has been dubbed - will have to average more than 15.5 knots to improve on Coville's time.

Joyon explains his new challenge..

Francis Joyon, you're back in business, as they say?
I am preparing the boat, with Romuald Favraud and Christophe Houdet. After the 4000 miles sailed by IDEC in the Mediterranean this summer was a check-up where we reviewed everything, from sails to electronics and rigging, etc. This minor work is very important before we set sail on Wednesday

And so you have chosen to tackle the Route of Discovery?
Yes, I will take on this course between Cadiz and San Salvador which is the one that Christopher Columbus took when he left to discover America. It is also why the course is via the Canary Islands, where Columbus stopped. When he arrived on the other hand, he massacred local people… me - I have a more peaceful objective, namely simply improving the time of Thomas Coville. It is a record that I already set once in 2004 aboard the first IDEC and Thomas improved by a few hours (15 hours and 27 minutes exactly, ndr) with his ORMA 60 in 2005.

To beat the record, you must beat 10 days, 11 hours and 50 minutes. A difficult time?
Yes, the time Thomas is very good at over 15 knots on average. I remember that in 2004, I thought I had already done a good average of 14.53 knots, aboard the first IDEC. We must understand that as it is always or almost always dead downwind, so the boat must continually gybe to maintain speed but adding about 30% to the course. Therefore one always has to sail above 20 knots to maintain an average of 16 knots down the direct route. So it is far from clear. Also, I do not set such targets - I just want to try to do better than the time Thomas.

What is the ideal weather on this course?
We hope the Azores high is in place so there is a good flow north-northeastly off Cadiz. But in October, there is often a disturbed situation, it may also be required to sail on the back of a tropical depression… Again, I will work with my router Jean-Yves Bernot who is motivated to start on this new solo adventure.

Stand-by is scheduled from what date?
I will be in Cadiz no later than 27 September, with IDEC ready for departure from the 29th on. Then we will have to be patient to make sure we get a good weather window- the deadline that I am setting for this is the end of November. But I do not think I'll wait that long because, statistically, at this time of year a favourable weather window is there every three weeks.

Happy to be back on the high seas?
Impatient, yes! I love sailing on this route, one where I made an Atlantic crossing on the first multihull that I built myself, when the route was to the Dominican Republic. This is a course where you can expect fairly strong wind - ie the conditions where IDEC is best. But this is sports… I love it!