Joyon breaks the one-handed transatlantic record with his "Idec"
In just 6 days, 4 hours, 1 minute and 37 seconds, the Frenchman Francis Joyon crossed the Atlantic from west to east with his 90-foot tri "Idec". With that he undercut the eleven-year-old record of his compatriot Laurent Bourgnon.
Last Thursday (June 30th) Francis Joyon took off with his “Idec” from the Ambrose Lighthouse in New York, heading east to Cap Lizard (Great Britain). Today (Wednesday) afternoon he reached the finish line of the record distance at 2:44 p.m. Thus he undercut the old one-hand record that Laurent Bourgnon had set in 1994 with his 60-foot tri "Primagaz" (7 days, 2 hours, 34 minutes and 42 seconds) by 22 hours, 33 minutes and 5 seconds!
Joyon achieved an average speed of 19.75 knots during his record run. Laurent Bourgnon had brought it to 17.15 knots at the time. Joyon's new record now has to be confirmed by the World Sailing Speed Record Concil (WSSRC).
On Sunday, Joyon had already surpassed Laurent Bourgnon's old 24-hour world record (540 nautical miles, set during his transatlantic record voyage) by three nautical miles. Joyon achieved an average speed of 22.62 knots (41.90 km / h) with his "Idec".
Joyon adds another great sailing performance to his accomplishments. In the past year, if only temporarily, he had circled the world as the fastest single-handed sailor in just 72 days and 22 hours (the record was broken this spring by Ellen MacArthur). This was also outstanding because Joyon needed just one and a half days more to circumnavigate the world than Olivier de Kersauson on the same ship during his Jules Verne record in 1994. However, he had sailed the "Idec" with a crew of 13.