Francis Joyon arrives in Rio de Janeiro after 13 days sailing from Bordeaux

Francis has arrived in Rio de Janeiro on the maxi trimaran IDEC. Reference time that was set: 13 days, 03 hours, 05 minutes and 19 seconds for the theoretical 4812 miles.

http://www.trimaran-idec.com/en/news.articles.aspx?id=264

He’s done it! At 1738hrs UTC (1938hrs CET) on Monday 21st April 2014, the IDEC maxi-trimaran crossed the finishing line in Rio de Janeiro in Brazil. Francis Joyon has set a new reference time for the Friendship Route between Bordeaux (France) and Rio de Janeiro (Brazil). His race time: 13 days, 03 hours, 05 minutes and 19 seconds for the theoretical 4812 miles.

Francis Joyon left Bordeaux on Tuesday 8th April beginning in the Gironde Estuary at 1433hrs UTC. This was merely four days after officially going on stand by with the support in particular  of the French football team, the Girondins de Bordeaux and Fabien Barthez among others. This new Friendship Route between Bordeaux and Rio de Janeiro was designed to bring together France and Brazil and come to the aid of charities in Brazil, as well as the ICM, the Brain and Spinal Cord Institute in France.

An average speed of 15.2 knots on the Great Circle Route and 18.1 knots out on the water
IDEC’s race time: 13 days, 03 hours, 05 minutes and 19 seconds to sail the 4812 miles of the theoretical route or 15.27 knots. In reality, IDEC sailed 910 miles more out on the water: 5722 nautical miles at an average speed of 18.16 knots. The explanation: Francis Joyon had to go around all the low-pressure areas from Cape Finisterre to the middle of the Atlantic. He had no hesitation in sailing 900 miles away from the direct route. Once again, Francis Joyon has managed to get the most out of his maxi trimaran to play with the various weather systems. He very often got up to around thirty knots...

The final 24 hours of sailing along the coast of Brazil were very demanding for the skipper of IDEC, who had to sail upwind for the final 120 miles to Rio de Janeiro. Exhausted after missing out on his sleep, Francis Joyon had to keep hard at it, carrying out changes of tack and many manoeuvres to reach the finishing line. These thirteen days of sailing were rather unusual as he had to sail a long way north to get to the west and this demanded a lot of effort. A few moments after crossing the line, Francis Joyon gave us his first impressions of this new record.

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