Sunday, December 7 – Approaching the equator
The endless Doldrums! The Intertropical Convergence Zone is not being kind to the all-female crew of The Famous Project CIC, which it began to slow down on Friday evening and does not intend to release before Sunday evening, continuing to swell in the path of the Maxi trimaran. Nevertheless, the boat is making steady progress southward and is approaching the equator this morning, which is about a hundred miles away.
With this important milestone reached and the transition to the southern hemisphere complete, Alexia Barrier and her funny ladies await Neptune’s protection and blessing, but also, more practically, access to the famous southeasterly trade winds.
These well-established winds, which blow from the coast of South Africa to the Horn of Brazil, allow sailors to bypass the high-pressure system centered on St. Helena in the South Atlantic.
The giant trimaran will therefore change hemispheres at speeds close to the wind’s direction. Its relatively easterly position will give it an interesting wind angle to lengthen its stride by accompanying the wind, when the wind gradually starts to blow across the boat.
This will be an opportunity for the crew to “cut through the Atlantic cheese” away from the Brazilian coast. All minds on board will then turn to the transition to be made with the disturbed systems of the far south, the boulevard to the other major landmarks of this Jules Verne Trophy, the Cape of Good Hope and its neighbor, Cape Agulhas, which marks the entrance to the Indian Ocean, hopefully within a week.
Alexia’s words
“… The equator is approaching. What a joyful idea! An invisible line, but an immense symbol. And I can’t wait to see Debs, 23, experience her first crossing. My first time? It was in a Mini, solo, I was 25… We celebrated a little, I think with my 6.50 Roxy. Memories have the decency to fade gently. Yesterday, we restocked our food supplies for the week, a highly anticipated moment when your favorite snacks have been gone from your compartment for three days… “
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/
Relive today’s live action aboard the IDEC SPORT maxi trimaran
