Tonight from Brest in France should reach a 40-metre Maxi-trimaran Spindrift 2 skipper Ian Stade Geoffroy-Guichard. The purpose of the 44-year-old Frenchman and the 11 crew members – to set a world record round the world race and get the Jules Verne Trophy.
Favorable weather window, Guichard and Co. waited almost two and a half months – from November 5 last year. All this time the crew of the trimaran was in full combat readiness at the team Spindrift Racing in Brest. But only now received the go-ahead from meteorologists, because the weather conditions should allow for Spindrift 2 to reach the equator in 5 days.
Jules Verne Trophy – an old dream Guichard. But still he had no luck. 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.
The next attempt was originally planned for November 2017. But meteorologists constantly postponed the launch, which was eventually given on 6 January 2018. However, in the beginning of the trimaran mast fell…
And now another attempt. Recall that the 40-metre trimaran was designed by the French VPLP design company in 2006 and originally bore the name of Banque Populaire V. In 2012 the team under the leadership of Leuk of Parana established the world record round the world race – 45 days, 13 hours, 42 minutes and 53 seconds.
Now the record (and, hence, the Jules Verne Trophy) belongs to Francis Guiana that on the trimaran IDEC SPORT was held around the world in 40 days, 23 hours, 30 minutes and 30 seconds.
