In November we posted about the maxi-trimaran Sails of Change (ex-Spindrift 2) and its crew of 11, waiting to set off from La Trinité-sur-Mer, in southwest Brittany, on their latest attempt to claim the Jules Verne Trophy. To win the trophy, they would have to beat the around the world record of 40d 23h 30′ 30″ set by Francis Joyon and his crew in 2017.
To beat the record, they needed exactly the right winds and weather to carry them through the first section of the route. Between November 1 and the end of January, they were waiting for a particular weather window that never opened. Lacking a suitable weather pattern for the maxi-trimaran to have a realistic chance of beating the record, team leaders Dona Bertarelli and Yann Guichard announced the end of voyage standby and their plans to start the attempt again later this year.
From their statement:
To beat the around-the-world record under sail, it is key to maximize the team’s chances during the first section of the route. The primary challenge for the maxi-trimaran Sails of Change is to make a very fast passage from the island of Ushant to the equator (within the record time of 4 days 19 hours and 57 minutes set by Spindrift herself in 2019). The crew would then need to make the southern tip of Africa in under 12 days, to be level with the previous record. With this in mind, since November 1st, 2021, Yann Guichard (skipper), Benjamin Schwartz (navigator), and Jean-Yves Bernot (onshore router) have been analyzing the weather in a bid to pinpoint the perfect configuration for linking these two sequences together. However, over the winter, the weather scenario has not once been favorable for starting the attempt.
Jean-Yves Bernot explains: “For some weeks, the low-pressure systems rolling towards Europe have been positioned a long way south, around the Canaries, Madeira and to the south of the Azores. Such a weather configuration prevents the trade wind from being strong and becoming established longer term. Usually, such episodes are fleeting, only lasting a few days at best. However, this year, the cycle has been on constant repeat. This has resulted in large areas of light breeze from the south of Gibraltar as far as Cape Verde. Of course, this is not at all conducive for setting sail on a round the world record. At the same time, in the South Atlantic, the Saint Helena High was extensive at the start of standby, making it difficult to negotiate due to the numerous windless areas. For Sails of Change, there was a very real risk of getting stuck there”.
In light of this situation, at the beginning of January, the team decided to extend the period of standby by two weeks until January 31st. During this time, the weather situation has remained unchanged and the forecasts for early February are not optimistic.
Jean-Yves Bernot also points out that a late entry into the Deep South is not recommended: “The austral summer is gradually drawing to a close. Sailing conditions in this area are becoming increasingly complicated with the cold, the gales and very heavy seas. With too much bad weather comes the increased risk of suffering damage, and it is more difficult to maintain the high average speeds needed to break the record”.
Within this context, Dona Bertarelli and Yann Guichard have decided to call off their team’s standby for the Jules Verne Trophy record.