{"id":1858,"date":"2015-11-26T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2015-11-25T23:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.idecsport.com\/the-start-of-the-doldrums\/"},"modified":"2019-04-16T10:22:16","modified_gmt":"2019-04-16T08:22:16","slug":"the-start-of-the-doldrums","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.idecsport.com\/en\/the-start-of-the-doldrums\/","title":{"rendered":"THE START OF THE DOLDRUMS"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>IDEC SPORT has been slowed down this morning. Quite normal. Francis Joyon\u2019s crew is beginning to experience the first effects of the Doldrums. The Equator lies 350 miles ahead. After only four days at sea\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>IDEC SPORT is sailing this morning in the middle of nowhere in the middle of the Atlantic. To port, Sierra Leone is 900 miles away. To starboard, Brazil is 1500 miles from the boat. In landlubbers\u2019 terms, that means Africa is more than 1600 km away and South America almost 2800 km. Beneath them the depths (5000 metres). Francis Joyon and his men are entering the Inter-Tropical Convergence Zone, which sailors prefer to call the Doldrums and has led to the expression \u201cto be down in the Doldrums.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>Focusing on the helm and the trimming<\/strong><\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_3250\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-3250\" style=\"width: 300px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.idecsport-sailing.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/151019IDEC_2121.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-3250\" src=\"https:\/\/www.idecsport-sailing.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/151019IDEC_2121-300x200.jpg\" alt=\"First aerial images of IDEC SPORT maxi trimaran, skipper Francis Joyon and his crew, training off Belle-Ile, Brittany, on october 19, 2015 - Photo Jean Marie Liot \/ DPPI \/ IDEC\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-3250\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">\u00a0Jean Marie Liot \/ DPPI \/ IDEC<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>This is all quite normal, as the Doldrums are know for being an area of uncertainty. It is here that the weather systems in the two hemispheres come together. You rarely get fine weather there, and it all seems very random. You get a series of squalls alternating sunshine and torrential rain, tropical heat and dark clouds, but more importantly, areas without wind and dead calm. In a fleet race, it is possible to remain stuck there, while a rival speeds away at high speed. That is why Bernard Stamm, who has clocked up more round the world voyages than others have had hot diners, has said, \u201c<em>Of all the places in the world, this is the one I most fear.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<p><strong>A lead of 240 miles<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Nothing is certain in this weather confusion that everyone wants to get away from as quickly as possible. The aim of the game (and that is what it is) is to attempt to cross the Doldrums, where they are narrowest. That is why IDEC SPORT is at 27\u00b0 West this morning, as it is between here and 30\u00b0 West where the crossing is the least treacherous statistically. That is why IDEC SPORT has been slowed down since 0330hrs this morning with speeds down to 20 knots as opposed to the crazy averages of the past 48 hours, which were around 32 knots or more.<\/p>\n<p>However advancing at 20 knots in this area is still very good. Especially when we think back to the recent Transat Jacques Vabre, a few weeks ago, when the competitors were forced to tack upwind at very low speeds. \u201c<em>The Doldrums shouldn\u2019t be too active or long for us. It\u2019s a different situation from the Transat. I think we should be OK<\/em>,\u201d Francis Joyon reassured us yesterday during the video link-up. It is clear that the brakes are on, but it is far from being disastrous. The lead over the reference pace has fallen by around 40 miles, but that is quite normal. They still have a comfortable advance of 240 miles (450 km). This means that the six men on IDEC SPORT can look forward to what lies ahead and feel confident. After four days at sea, the Equator is only 350 miles away. Unprecedented.<\/p>\n<p><strong>In short<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>At 0600hrs on Thursday 26<sup>th<\/sup> November<\/strong>, after 4 days and 4 hours at sea, IDEC SPORT was sailing at 23.4 knots at 06\u00b002 North 27\u00b029 West. 350 miles from the Equator. Bearing: South (201\u00b0). Lead over the reference time: 237 miles.<\/p>\n<p><strong>The record for the stretch between Ushant and the Equator<\/strong> \u2013 held by Lo\u00efck Peyron and his crew on Banque Populaire V since 27<sup>th<\/sup> November 2011 \u2013 5 days, 14 hours, 55 minutes and 10 seconds.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>IDEC SPORT has been slowed down this morning. Quite normal. Francis Joyon\u2019s crew is beginning to experience the first effects of the Doldrums. The Equator lies 350 miles ahead. After only four days at sea\u2026 IDEC SPORT is sailing this morning in the middle of nowhere in the middle of the Atlantic. To port, Sierra &hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1022,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1858","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sailing"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.1.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>THE START OF THE DOLDRUMS - IDEC SPORT<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.idecsport.com\/en\/the-start-of-the-doldrums\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"THE START OF THE DOLDRUMS - IDEC SPORT\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"IDEC SPORT has been slowed down this morning. Quite normal. Francis Joyon\u2019s crew is beginning to experience the first effects of the Doldrums. The Equator lies 350 miles ahead. After only four days at sea\u2026 IDEC SPORT is sailing this morning in the middle of nowhere in the middle of the Atlantic. To port, Sierra &hellip;\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.idecsport.com\/en\/the-start-of-the-doldrums\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"IDEC SPORT\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/IDECSPORT\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2015-11-25T23:00:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2019-04-16T08:22:16+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.idecsport.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/151019IDEC_0101-1024x683.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1024\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"683\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Fabrice Thomazeau\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@IdecSport\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@IdecSport\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Fabrice Thomazeau\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.idecsport.com\/en\/the-start-of-the-doldrums\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.idecsport.com\/en\/the-start-of-the-doldrums\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Fabrice Thomazeau\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.idecsport.com\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/490ac24aa579f028d2767ae824c479c2\"},\"headline\":\"THE START OF THE DOLDRUMS\",\"datePublished\":\"2015-11-25T23:00:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2019-04-16T08:22:16+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.idecsport.com\/en\/the-start-of-the-doldrums\/\"},\"wordCount\":574,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.idecsport.com\/en\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.idecsport.com\/en\/the-start-of-the-doldrums\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.idecsport.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/151019IDEC_0101.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Sailing\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.idecsport.com\/en\/the-start-of-the-doldrums\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.idecsport.com\/en\/the-start-of-the-doldrums\/\",\"name\":\"THE START OF THE DOLDRUMS - IDEC SPORT\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.idecsport.com\/en\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.idecsport.com\/en\/the-start-of-the-doldrums\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.idecsport.com\/en\/the-start-of-the-doldrums\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.idecsport.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/151019IDEC_0101.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2015-11-25T23:00:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2019-04-16T08:22:16+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.idecsport.com\/en\/the-start-of-the-doldrums\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.idecsport.com\/en\/the-start-of-the-doldrums\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.idecsport.com\/en\/the-start-of-the-doldrums\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.idecsport.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/151019IDEC_0101.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.idecsport.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/151019IDEC_0101.jpg\",\"width\":3543,\"height\":2362},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.idecsport.com\/en\/the-start-of-the-doldrums\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Accueil\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.idecsport.com\/en\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"THE START OF THE DOLDRUMS\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.idecsport.com\/en\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.idecsport.com\/en\/\",\"name\":\"IDEC SPORT\",\"description\":\"Branche sportive du GROUPE IDEC, IDEC SPORT rassemble tous les partenariats sportifs sous une seule et m\u00eame banni\u00e8re. La voile avec Francis Joyon, le sport auto, le basket, le Football, le Rugby et l&#039;Handisport\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.idecsport.com\/en\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.idecsport.com\/en\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.idecsport.com\/en\/#organization\",\"name\":\"IDEC SPORT\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.idecsport.com\/en\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.idecsport.com\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.idecsport.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Logo-IDEC-SPORT_carre_512_02-2022.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.idecsport.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Logo-IDEC-SPORT_carre_512_02-2022.jpg\",\"width\":512,\"height\":512,\"caption\":\"IDEC SPORT\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.idecsport.com\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/IDECSPORT\/\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/IdecSport\",\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/idecsport-racing\/\",\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UCjGcu2H6w63f2_MirkRlRXw\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.idecsport.com\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/490ac24aa579f028d2767ae824c479c2\",\"name\":\"Fabrice Thomazeau\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.idecsport.com\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/559f3a11121360d4589de964a10d9bc9615d6d2717b5039f9f05007a15a0f7f4?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/559f3a11121360d4589de964a10d9bc9615d6d2717b5039f9f05007a15a0f7f4?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Fabrice Thomazeau\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"THE START OF THE DOLDRUMS - IDEC SPORT","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.idecsport.com\/en\/the-start-of-the-doldrums\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"THE START OF THE DOLDRUMS - IDEC SPORT","og_description":"IDEC SPORT has been slowed down this morning. Quite normal. Francis Joyon\u2019s crew is beginning to experience the first effects of the Doldrums. The Equator lies 350 miles ahead. After only four days at sea\u2026 IDEC SPORT is sailing this morning in the middle of nowhere in the middle of the Atlantic. To port, Sierra &hellip;","og_url":"https:\/\/www.idecsport.com\/en\/the-start-of-the-doldrums\/","og_site_name":"IDEC SPORT","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/IDECSPORT\/","article_published_time":"2015-11-25T23:00:00+00:00","article_modified_time":"2019-04-16T08:22:16+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1024,"height":683,"url":"https:\/\/www.idecsport.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/151019IDEC_0101-1024x683.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Fabrice Thomazeau","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@IdecSport","twitter_site":"@IdecSport","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Fabrice Thomazeau","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.idecsport.com\/en\/the-start-of-the-doldrums\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.idecsport.com\/en\/the-start-of-the-doldrums\/"},"author":{"name":"Fabrice Thomazeau","@id":"https:\/\/www.idecsport.com\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/490ac24aa579f028d2767ae824c479c2"},"headline":"THE START OF THE DOLDRUMS","datePublished":"2015-11-25T23:00:00+00:00","dateModified":"2019-04-16T08:22:16+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.idecsport.com\/en\/the-start-of-the-doldrums\/"},"wordCount":574,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.idecsport.com\/en\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.idecsport.com\/en\/the-start-of-the-doldrums\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.idecsport.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/151019IDEC_0101.jpg","articleSection":["Sailing"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.idecsport.com\/en\/the-start-of-the-doldrums\/","url":"https:\/\/www.idecsport.com\/en\/the-start-of-the-doldrums\/","name":"THE START OF THE DOLDRUMS - IDEC SPORT","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.idecsport.com\/en\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.idecsport.com\/en\/the-start-of-the-doldrums\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.idecsport.com\/en\/the-start-of-the-doldrums\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.idecsport.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/151019IDEC_0101.jpg","datePublished":"2015-11-25T23:00:00+00:00","dateModified":"2019-04-16T08:22:16+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.idecsport.com\/en\/the-start-of-the-doldrums\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.idecsport.com\/en\/the-start-of-the-doldrums\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.idecsport.com\/en\/the-start-of-the-doldrums\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.idecsport.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/151019IDEC_0101.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.idecsport.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/151019IDEC_0101.jpg","width":3543,"height":2362},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.idecsport.com\/en\/the-start-of-the-doldrums\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Accueil","item":"https:\/\/www.idecsport.com\/en\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"THE START OF THE DOLDRUMS"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.idecsport.com\/en\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.idecsport.com\/en\/","name":"IDEC SPORT","description":"Branche sportive du GROUPE IDEC, IDEC SPORT rassemble tous les partenariats sportifs sous une seule et m\u00eame banni\u00e8re. La voile avec Francis Joyon, le sport auto, le basket, le Football, le Rugby et l&#039;Handisport","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.idecsport.com\/en\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.idecsport.com\/en\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.idecsport.com\/en\/#organization","name":"IDEC SPORT","url":"https:\/\/www.idecsport.com\/en\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.idecsport.com\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.idecsport.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Logo-IDEC-SPORT_carre_512_02-2022.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.idecsport.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Logo-IDEC-SPORT_carre_512_02-2022.jpg","width":512,"height":512,"caption":"IDEC SPORT"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.idecsport.com\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/IDECSPORT\/","https:\/\/x.com\/IdecSport","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/idecsport-racing\/","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UCjGcu2H6w63f2_MirkRlRXw"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.idecsport.com\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/490ac24aa579f028d2767ae824c479c2","name":"Fabrice Thomazeau","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.idecsport.com\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/559f3a11121360d4589de964a10d9bc9615d6d2717b5039f9f05007a15a0f7f4?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/559f3a11121360d4589de964a10d9bc9615d6d2717b5039f9f05007a15a0f7f4?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Fabrice Thomazeau"}}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.idecsport.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1858","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.idecsport.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.idecsport.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.idecsport.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.idecsport.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1858"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.idecsport.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1858\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4712,"href":"https:\/\/www.idecsport.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1858\/revisions\/4712"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.idecsport.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1022"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.idecsport.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1858"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.idecsport.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1858"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.idecsport.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1858"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}