Francis Joyon launches his crazy challenge!

The French navigator has set four exceptional challenges with his boat IDEC SPORT. First challendre: beat the record of La Mauricienne. (Text Agency Sea & Media).

Francis Joyon started this morning in his attempt to record La Mauricienne between Port Louis (Brittany) and Port Louis (Mauritius). This Saturday, October 19 at 9:11 UTC (11:11 French time), the skipper of IDEC SPORT has cut the starting line off the citadel of Port Louis (Morbihan). In front of its bows is a complex 8,800-mile solo route to Mauritius. Francis tries to beat his own benchmark established just ten years ago: 26 days, 4 hours and 13 minutes. To improve it, it must arrive before November 14 at 13:24 UTC. The Mauritian is the first act of its new record campaign in Asia, named IDEC SPORT ASIAN TOUR.

Francis Joyon embarked this morning in a new adventure, on an exercise that he particularly likes: fighting against time … Man of all records, the skipper of IDEC SPORT attacks his time of reference on the Mauritian, established in 2009 aboard the previous trimaran IDEC. In 2014, Lionel Lemonchois had tried to improve this record, but the experiment ended with a capsize off Brazil, proof of the complexity of this 8,800-mile course full of pitfalls.

Do better than 26 days, 4 hours and 13 minutes

It is this Saturday, October 19 that Francis Joyon left La Trinite-sur-Mer to go to the starting line off the citadel of Port Louis. At 9h11 'and 32' 'UT (11h11 French time), Francis cut this line in a light stream of West. A few hours ago, he had delivered his last impressions about the weather window not ideal but still favorable given the context: "I would have liked to leave with a little more wind. But we do not really have the choice because if we wait longer, we will end up with strong headwinds. I have to catch a little stream of the North by drifting in the west winds. Then it will go down fairly quickly along Portugal and Canaries, and then it will sneak up to the Cape Verde Islands. We monitor with Christian Dumard (router on the ground) a depression that forms further south and may break the trade winds. This is also why we accelerate the film of departure. The record is improvable. I will surely be a little behind the equator but I hope to catch up on the rest of the course. "

"The equivalent of three Route du Rhum"

By once again attacking the record of La Mauricienne, Francis Joyon makes his longest solo sailing aboard IDEC SPORT. "It's about the equivalent of three Route du Rhum"says Francis. "At no time can we really make a direct route. Ten years ago, I had traveled 10,000 actual miles, rather than the 8,800 of the theoretical route. It will be interesting to sail so long on this boat, to take the time to know him even more. "

"A perfume of adventure"

The record of La Mauricienne is the first act of the IDEC SPORT ASIAN TOUR 2019-2010, an unprecedented record-breaking campaign of nearly 27,000 miles. "It's a first to make a trip like this, with stages in different countries. There is an adventure fragrance "Rejoices Francis Joyon.

After La Mauricienne, three other records will follow, this time crewed:

Act 2: Mauritius – Ho Chi Minh (Vietnam): 3,975 miles
Act 3: Ho Chi Minh – Hong Kong: 920 miles
Act 4: The Tea Route, Hong Kong – London: 13,000 miles