Wednesday, December 3 – Scientific mission accomplished for the sailors aboard the IDEC SPORT maxi-trimaran –
Alexia Barrier’s words
« Yesterday afternoon, I was finally able to breathe. The sea calmed down for a moment, just long enough for us to catch our breath, for the boat to settle down, for everything to return to a kind of natural rhythm. Of course, there are still those squalls, always them, that come and tickle us—sometimes even annoy us—but that’s part of the game. We compose ourselves, we adjust, we adapt.
The hours at the helm are intense. We push, we feel, we listen to the boat as if it were a living creature. We try to use the autopilot more to save some of our strength.
Reefing downwind… ah, that’s never fun. For those following us: reefing means reducing the sail area to maintain control when the wind picks up. Downwind, when the wind is strong, it’s not easy at all. But the crew is doing a great job, as always.
Today, we have a very special mission: to deploy a drifting weather buoy. It may seem like a simple task, but it’s a scientific, useful, rare—and historic—one. This is the first time a buoy of this type has been deployed from a trimaran sailing around the world.
These small, discreet but essential buoys measure atmospheric pressure, sea temperature, and surface currents. They send their data every hour, free of charge, to the international scientific community. They are the eyes and ears of the ocean.
In these vast marine areas, which are veritable data deserts, they provide valuable information: atmospheric pressure, a crucial meteorological parameter that can only be measured using a barometer. Thanks to them, all weather models around the world—regardless of country—are becoming more accurate. They help monitor the climate, improve forecasting, and refine our understanding of the atmosphere and the ocean.
The buoy we are launching today is part of the Copernicus program. It will last for about two years… sometimes longer. Some even exceed five years, brave little sentinels adrift at sea.So yes, today we’re speeding along, looking for the right angles, experiencing squalls and maneuvers… But we’re also contributing, in our own small way, to something bigger. And that gives extra meaning to the wake we leave behind us.»
Article by The Famous Project CIC
Follow the adventure on IDEC SPORT social media and via the comprehensive map =>> https://trimaran-idec.geovoile.com/julesverne/2025/viewer/
