Joyon forges on

More high mileage on board the 90ft trimaran IDEC

Position at 07:58: 39deg 43.92'S 47deg 09.12' E
Finish from start: 8843.52 miles
Speed/course: 15.23 knots / 69°

The weather is proving to be a little more volatile for Francis Joyon on his eastabout solo passage around the world at the moment, although there doesn't appear to be any major problems on the horizon.

Over the weekend Joyon has continued to make impressive progress. Despite his speed fluctuating between 13 and 21 knots, while his last daily runs were 453 miles on Fri-Sat, 452 on Sat-Sun and 383 miles in the 24 hours up until 07:58 this morning.

At present Joyon is being chased by a high pressure system that is tracking along just to the north of his latitude but provided he maintains his normal daily average over the next coupe of day he should avoid its clutches and will be able to thumb a lift on the next west-going depression.

Joyon is currently to the north of Crozet island and looks set to pass to the north of the Kerguelen Islands. His route at present appears to be a very long way north although he is in fact slightly further south than both Orange and Geronimo were at this stage of their Jules Verne Trophy attempts. However Joyon is considerably further north than Michel Desjoyeaux in the Vendee Globe who by this stage was already down to 44degS, attempting to sail the shortest route. Sailing through 10degs of longitude at 40degS is roughly 459 miles compared to it being 425 miles at 45degS. Rather than heading deep south Joyon will be prefering to look after the boat and rather than aiming for the strongest conditions knows he stands more chance of sailing his big tri faster in flatter water away from the worst of the weather.