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and Fall…
Francis Joyon had been waiting for roughly 2 months for a decent weather window in order to tackle the North Atlantic W to E solo record – a tough one, held by Laurent « the equilibrist » Bourgnon since 1994. Aboard Primagaz (VPLP designed double Route du Rhum winner), the famous 60’ trimaran, Laurent had set an amazing time of 7 days, 2 hours, 34 minutes and 42 seconds. While doing so, he also broke the solo 24 hours record, 540 miles if you please : flying the windward float and the central hull most of the time, alone on such a powerful bird… takes some serious guts. So anyway, Francis knew this one would be tough to beat, and when he set out from New York last week (June 30), after having discussed the matter over with his friend and router Jean-Yves Bernot, the game was not won. “The first day at sea was a bit slow, it got me worried, recalled the skipper yesterday, IDEC and I only covered something like 400 miles…” But things started to accelerate the following day, Francis riding the south ridge of a low centred on the Great Lakes area – bearing in mind the fact that Bourgnon had had a great start, beating the 24 hours record on his second day at sea. Foggy weather around Nantucket, a lot of fishing boats in the zone… and IDEC doing 25 to 28 knots with barely any visibility ! “That was stressing, and the boat needed a lot of sail changes because the wind was erratic in terms of direction”. 24 hours later, it’s another “Russian roulette” night in the middle of heavy traffic, the big red trimaran now set on a steady 25 knots pace. “I haven’t caught a glimpse of the sky since I left, said Joyon over the satellite phone, it’s fog all the time!”. Yet the route is perfect… Sunday, July the 3rd, Francis was beating the 24 hours record without even noticing. “I haven’t had the time to check my progression, it’s too busy up on deck, I’m constantly switching from the big gennaker to the small one, then to the Solent jib and so on”. Well you did it boy, 543 miles in 24 hours, that’s just a new world record! On July 4th, while you guys were celebrating Independence Day (even though, as The Ed. Pointed out, it could have been a happier one with a another Gov.), Francis’s lead over the record reached 100 miles – OK, a lead, but what’s 100 miles on a total of 2925 (theoretical distance)? “As long as I can sleep 2 hours a day, I can keep a clear head, and I’ve been concentrating hard of the boat speed, spending long hours at the helm”. Joyon, winner of the 2000 OSTAR, knows that a week flat out is manageable, and only 1000 miles away from the Lizard, he’s ready to give all he got…As a result, on the penultimate day of his Atlantic crossing, his average speed since the start is a nice 20 knots… flawless! Checking things out with the designated local WSSRC representative last Tuesday, we were all realising that Joyon was about to make history once more – felt him excited over the phone, really happy with the duet he formed with his boat… And the verdict fell the next day : IDEC crossed the line after 6 days, 4 hours, one minute and 37 seconds at sea, with a 22 hours advantage over the previous record ! “Its as if the boat wanted that record, she’s done almost a better job than me… We were around 25 knots at all times, it was incredible, a real joy to be sailing that way”, said the Atlantic King after passing the Lizard. Interesting, Joyon also “beat” the fully crewed record established by Jet Services V, a record that remained the outright one on the course until PlayStation came and broke it in 2001 (11 years later )! “I was already sailing multihulls at the time, and I knew the guys who were aboard Jet Services V – I never thought I could rival with them on my own!” The plan is to meet Francis in La Trinité (South Brittany) the next morning, where an intimate press conference will be held… But stunned, we learn the terrible news when he calls at dawn, on Thursday. The boat ran aground at Penmarc’h*, he’s safe, but IDEC’s being dislocated by the waves! Patrice Lafargue (his sponsor) drives up to pick the skipper up, and comes back with him so we can meet – strange and uncomfortable situation, when everyone knows that words can barely be of any help at all… Fortunately, not many people are around, which makes things easier – then the story starts to unwind… “I’m still shocked, I’ve never been so scared on a boat, starts Francis. I went to sleep after having set the pilot and reduced sails to make the boat speed drop to 6 – 8 knots. I had taken a course that what keeping me clear of the coast, and I fell asleep very profoundly in a snap… I woke up with a terrible crash, and found myself with rocks on the port side, rocks on starboard, waves smashing under the trimaran: it took me a while to realise, and at first I thought I was on isolated rocks – I could never have imagined that the boat had come on the coast (note: the autopilot had deviated from its course, as it had done on a couple of occasions during the record, but this time the speed was low, so the variation was not sufficient to wake Francis up)! I sent a MAYDAY, gave my position, and the local coast guards told me the rescue team was coming my way… walking!!! I was so shocked I let them take care of me, which isn’t like me at all, and since they found me a bit strange, they took me to the hospital for a complete examination. It was roughly 1 AM when I hit the rocks, and I came back to the boat at about 4 AM, with my brother. Local divers and rescue boat crewmembers were trying to salvage the trimaran, I went up on the deck to help them… then the boat pivoted and a series of waves completely destroyed her in a matter of minutes. It was incredible, such a big boat smashed to pieces in no time – I understood that there was no way we could do anything for IDEC. A very sad sight, I had started to feel that those bits of carbon could have a soul, they had taken care of me, given me such immense joys…” It was clear yesterday that while telling his incredible story, Francis was experiencing mixed feelings: sad about the loss, yet he was still running on the adrenalin this record had pumped through his veins… Struck even before having had the time to properly celebrate her two fantastic new records, IDEC left the scene tragically – this boat, whose construction had started in 1985, just 20 years ago, deserved many honours, notably for having held the Jules Verne Trophy for 5 years (1997 – 2002)… Then, when Francis took her over after Olivier de Kersauson, he set an astounding solo record around the world with 72 days, without any outside weather assistance! Of course, IDEC was a tired boat, but it was incredible to see how, having evolved over the years, she could still be capable of amazing performances. No glorious ship should die that way. One last thing – hats off to Patrice Lafargue, Francis’s sponsor (CEO of IDEC), who once again showed great sensitiveness, took care of Francis as he would have done for a member of his family, and declared he’d still be supporting Joyon if the man wanted him to! For the moment, we don’t know how their collaboration will move on, but one has seen so many sponsors disengage after this type of accident… There’s at least this bright side to the story. Cheer up, Francis! *
Penmarc’h is located in Southern Brittany (NW France). A rugged piece
of land, full of sharp rocks. |
