Day 1 – First night, immense and wild… Yesterday, in the early afternoon, The Famous Project CIC entered the reality of its Jules Verne Trophy without preamble. The Maxi Trimaran IDEC SPORT was propelled without mercy on a rapid crossing of the Bay of Biscay by a strong northwesterly flow, on a sea well formed by the passage of a front. Alexia and her seven sailors completed the journey to Cape Finisterre, with its Traffic Separation Scheme and sometimes confusing winds off the coast of Galicia, in less than 18 hours. As expected, the winds have dropped in intensity, but the sea remains rough, with waves over 3 meters high, and downwind sailing is more relevant than ever, promising a lively descent along the coast of Portugal.
Alexia’s words
“The first night, you know, is a night when the sea speaks louder than the radio. You can’t quite tell if it’s the wind blowing or if it’s you breathing too hard, or maybe my heart still beating too fast. The moon was there, a benevolent grande dame lighting our way without judgment, and I felt as if she were saying, ‘Go on, move forward, I’m here, I’m watching over you.’ And then the stars, they say nothing, but they watch and guide us.
And sometimes I feel like they know the route better than we do. That’s probably true. We were still a little shaken up last night by the emotions of departure, the overly tight hugs, the overly kind words of encouragement, the memories still fresh and tired too.
It had been a long week, full of little things to sort out, like before a big trip. The sea hadn’t forgotten anything; it was waiting for us, enormous, powerful, alive. And between two huge waves, we got a little too close, for my liking, to the Créach lighthouse, but we made it through, as if the boat itself wanted to say goodbye to Ouessant.
And then we arrived at Cape Finistère. It’s the end of the world, the sea has calmed down, as has the wind. We’ve settled into our rhythm on board.
It had been rumbling loudly since the start, like big dogs, too excited to play, and the wind was blowing our thoughts out of our heads. And with all that, we only broke a small pulley, so it’s okay. The crew, we saw stomachs still knotted with stress, jaws clenched at the start, and then little by little, as we pushed forward, and the salt, laughter bursting out without warning, the rhythm returned, the smiles too, the camaraderie.
Basically, we’re going back to doing what we know how to do, moving forward together, like a gang, like an improvised family, traveling through the night, because deep down, that’s where we feel best. ( Here’s our first night, a little crazy, a little overwhelming, but so beautiful!”
Follow the adventure on IDEC SPORT social media and via the comprehensive map=>> https://trimaran-idec.geovoile.com/julesverne/2025/viewer/
