Joyon hurtles south

French solo sailor clocks up another 400 miler

07:58 position: 17deg 34.16' S 30deg 28.76' W
Distance from start: 4491.26nm
Current speed/course: 17.99 Nds / 185 °

thedailysail medal of achievement award (if we had one) would at present be going to Francis Joyon, currently attempting the non-stop eastabout round the world record singlehanded on board his 90ft trimaran IDEC. In the 25 hours (unfortunately position reports back from the boat are sporadic) up until 0800 this morning Joyon had put in yet another 400+ mile run, this time 428 miles and is trundling along at 18 knots.

11 days since leaving Brest on the north west coast of France, Joyon is now 4491 miles away at 17degS and in comparison when Olivier de Kersauson made his successful Jules Verne Trophy record attempt on this same boatin 1997 - he was still north of the Equator! Current holder of the record Joyon wants to beat - Michel Desjoyeaux on PRB during the 2000-1 Vendee Globe was at this point at 07deg 18N.

However when Bruno Peyron set the current Jules Verne record on board Orange in 2002 he was at 21.6degS on day 11 while Olivier de Kersauson during his ultimately unsuccessful trip on board Geronimo earlier this year was at 30degS.

Greater things look still to come for Joyon. With the south Atlantic high drifting off to the southeast, there is a weather situation opening up which may allow Joyon to hang a hard left shortly that will allow him to lop a large chunk off the usual circuitous route around the South Atlantic. This could be risky, but could equally make his course around the world several hundred miles shorter, putting him even further forward on Michel Desjoyeaux' record.

In fact Joyon said yesterday that he was unlikely to take this change. Instead he planned to maintain a course of 170deg which would get him into the influrence of his first Southern Ocean depression at around 28degS in three days time. To ge there he will have to cross an area of high pressure that will be slow him temporarily.