Just after encountering a huge iceberg, IDEC SPORT regained 90 more miles from the record time during the night. But Francis Joyon and his men are about to start a complicated weekend with a lot of uncertainty concerning the weather situation.
IDEC SPORT has just completed her 34th day at sea since leaving Ushant. If you missed the last episode, take a look at the photos and videos of the encounter between IDEC SPORT and a giant iceberg. It happened around 1600hrs yesterday afternoon. An amazing, unforgettable moment, as the six men on board saw huge chunks breaking off the ice sat 43° S. A nice present for Christmas after two more days of high speed: 680 miles covered each day. Since the North of the Falklands, IDEC SPORT has been fast. The crew skippered by Francis Joyon has significantly cut the deficit they had in comparison to the record time: yesterday at 1630hrs, they were 400 miles behind and this morning it is down to just over 310. 90 miles regained in 12 hours, a boost to the determination of the crew.
We need to be cautious however, as this end there will be two major difficulties to deal with. Since the Falklands, IDEC SPORT has been propelled by the same area of low pressure heading north, but now there is a patch of light winds associated with a high ahead of them. Francis Joyon said yesterday that there were two areas where they were likely to be slowed down. The extent to which they are slowed will determine how they get to the trade winds, which should allow them to pick up speed again. They are in fact already beginning to feel the slow down this morning. Since 2000hrs the average speeds have been around 20 – 25 knots as opposed to 30 yesterday evening. So there is suspense after the encounter with the iceberg with eleven and a half days to go to make it home in record time.
