Francis Joyon Route de l ´ Amitié Bordeaux to Rio de Janeiro update, making the most of fickle conditions

From the following press release on the Trimaran IDEC website:

http://www.trimaran-idec.com/en/news.articles.aspx?id=255

Playing cat and mouse with the low-pressure area, 13th april 2014

Around 800 north-west of the Cape Verde Islands, Francis Joyon is playing a game of cat and mouse with the low-pressure area centred over the Canaries.

It would be something of an understatement to say that the weather was very unusual for this first edition of the Friendship Route. It is in fact extremely rare at this time of year for an area of low pressure to be centred for so long over the Canaries. This weather system lis upsetting the usual pattern for the trade winds, which blowing from east to west offer downwind conditions for sailors crossing the Atlantic and tend to give them comfortable, steady speeds and smooth sailing.

read more here