24 hours – 719 nautical miles

January 18, 20192min read

Ended the first day of non-stop round the world race 40-metre Maxi-trimaran Spindrift 2 skipper Ian Stade Geoffroy-Guichard.

Starting 24 hours from the moment of crossing the imaginary line between the French island of wassan and English lizard point was for the crew of Spindrift 2 more than successful. During this time, the trimaran overcame 719 nautical miles at an average speed of 30 knots ahead of schedule and the current holder of the Jules Verne Trophy – Francis Guiana on IDEC SPORT (his record, recall, is 40 days, 23 hours, 30 minutes and 30 seconds) – 133 miles.

Meteorologists Spindrift 2 and coastal Navigator Jean-Yves Beren is not in vain for two and a half months waiting for favorable conditions to start. Wait! According to forecasts, Spindrift 2 can even reach the equator in less than five days. What then will be the weather situations, hard to say, but there’s a chance that the longitude of the Cape of Good Hope the command of the Team crosses a little less than 12 days. Guyana and Co. this took 12 days, 21 hours and 22 minutes.

We must admit that among those who now oversees the sailing Spindrift 2, a lot of skeptics. Not without pleasure remembered, the team has already tried three times to get the Jules Verne Trophy, but each time failed.

In 2016, Spindrift 2 has stopped the race when the finish line was only 2600 miles – because of the massive anticyclone that’d have to go over the edge. A second attempt a header made in early January of last year, but after a few hours after the start gave the command to return to port. Finally, after another few days, Spindrift 2 is re-started, however, on the first day of the race lost his mast…

Incidentally, the mast Spindrift 2 is somewhat shorter than it was a year ago, in addition, the trimaran has become easier, and the crew now consists of 12 people (before was 14). Because of this, according to Guichard, Spindrift 2 has been speed.

Food for thought: IDEC-SPORT Guyana toured around the world with an average speed of 22.84 node.