Joyon king of the Ocean sets time to beat on Friendship Route

Francis Joyon made it. We had no doubt, given his zest as a sea dog and ocean recordman. Yesterday at 7:38 p.m. (Italian time) his trimaran IDEC crossed the finish line in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, setting the time reference on the Bordeaux-Rio route, on the so-called “Friendship Route” (conceived as a bridge between France and Brazil to raise funds for to benefit Brazilian charities and the ICM, Brain and Spinal Cord Institute).

NOT AN EASY UNDERTAKING
It took Joyon 13 days, 3 hours , 5 minutes and 19 seconds to travel the 4,812 miles of the theoretical route at an average speed of 15.2 knots: the actual 5,722 miles, however, he grinded them out at an average speed of 18.1 knots. It was not an easy crossing: the maxi trimaran took advantage of the depressions from Cape Finisterre to the middle of the Atlantic, stretching 900 miles from the shorter route to make the most of the weather conditions. The last day of sailing, then, saw an exhausted Joyon struggle with strong headwinds, forced to multiply the number of turns and maneuvers to cross the finish line in front of the Brazilian metropolis.

WHO IS FRANCIS JOYON
Francis Joyon (born in France in 1956) has a very important palmares: on the trimaran IDEC (98 feet, 29.87 meters long), in 2013 he set the record for the Atlantic crossing, from west to east, under solo sail: covered the 2880 (theoretical) miles on the official route from New York (U.S.) to Cape Lizard (in Cornwall, southern tip of Great Britain) in 5 days, 2 hours, 56 minutes and 10 seconds, a time 16 hours, 34 minutes and 30 seconds less than that set by Thomas Coville in 2008 on Sodebo (105-foot, 32-meter trimaran).By appropriating this record, Francis Joyon became the first sailor to hold the four most important solo ocean sailing records.

THE OTHER RECORDS
In addition to the Atlantic crossing record from west to east Joyon set several records:
-the nonstop round-the-world record, set in 2008: 57 days, 13 hours, 34 minutes and 6 seconds;
-the record on the Columbus Route (Atlantic crossing from east to west, from Cadiz to San Salvador), set in 2013: 8 days, 16 hours, 7 minutes and 5 seconds;
-the record for miles traveled in 24 hours, set in 2012: 666.2 (27.75 knots average).

Francis Joyon had already set the classic Atlantic crossing record (New York-Cape Lizard) in 2005 with 6 days and 4 hours, taking it away after 11 years from Swiss Laurent Bourgnon, who covered the distance in 7 days and 2 hours in 1994 (other navigators who have set this record in the past include Bruno Peyron and Florence Arthaud).

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