Francis Joyon set to depart on New York to Lizard record attempt

Francis Joyon is set to depart on his record attempt on the Trans Atlantic New York to Lizard route. He will need to maintain a better than 20 knot average to regain the record currently held by Thomas Coville on Sodebo.

http://www.trimaran-idec.com/actualite_article.asp?id=225

The tracker is here:

http://www.trimaran-idec.com/multimedia_cartographie.asp

 

He has started and is slightly behind the record pace at the moment.

 

^^^

Apparently Joyon was too busy to buy any food in New York, so he asked a guy hanging around on the dock for help. This guy was a Russian, and Joyon says he is now obliged to eat Russian food during his record attempt...

lol

Remember my suggesting to you that he could use a cook, Corley?

 

^^ That's funny, I'm surprised Francis eats real food on the crossing aren't most of these skippers with weight sensitive boats eating freeze dried? I don't suppose the weight impost is too great for a 5 and a bit day crossing of the Atlantic.

 

^^^

I bet he hasn't even cut the handle off his toothbrush!



What I was surprised to read (again proving the usefulness of my years spent stumbling through Gide and Sartre and Camus) was that Joyon supposedly incapacitated the propeller on IDEC (the french word was demonter, meaning removed) before starting the record attempt.

Does he do that just in order to decrease drag, or because he's a nautical saint, or what?

 

I wonder if he got him Vodka instead of the traditional rum.

When Tim Severin recreated the supposed voyage of st. Brendan the Navigator they took freeze dried food, and found after a few weeks at sea it was not suitable for consumption. Next trip they took hard cheese, beef jerky, salted fish, and similar "traditional" foods, and it stayed edible and appetizing the whole trip.

Of course this trip is not as long a journey as the Brendan journey, but it was interesting to learn that sometimes traditional things work out for the better in remote places.

 

My understanding from the previous attempt is he physically dived under the boat and removed the propeller when the boat was moored away from the marina and ready to go and sailed out. Less drag I guess but would have thought that a folding prop would have been nearly as good.

 

I thought he flew the main hull all the time, so there wouldn't be any drag anyway

Richard Woods

 

Francis has cut back his deficit on Thomas Coville's reference time on Sodebo. Now only 40 nm behind and well placed within the current weather system to eclipse the record. Thomas Coville was slowed by unfavourable conditions on the approach to the Lizard but it looks like Joyon will be able to take a more direct route.

 

^^^

His 24hr distance covered is now at 648nm. Will be amazing if that weather carries him up to a new record time, as it looks it might do. More speed!

 

Only 7.5 nm behind and charging at nearly 30 knots!!!

 

Even a folding prop is an enormous amount of drag. When the difference between a new record and a failure can be a matter of fractions of a knot over days, drag like that is a big deal. It isn't saintly, it would be downright foolish not to take it off. I mean imagine leaving it on and missing the record by 5 minutes!

 

41 knots ahead and cruising at a solid 40+ knots straight to goal.
Looking pretty good for Francis!!!

 

The boat has a shaft drive that sticks out through the bottom of the boat which doesn't seem optimal removing the prop only gets rid of a little of the drag. If you were really concerned about drag I believe you would fit a retractable shaft drive like some of the maxi monohulls do. Banque Populaire V doesn't even have a prop and needs to be shepherded round with RIB's when leaving the dock.

I'd say the answer has to do with Francis's philosophy of keeping everything simple which seems to be working pretty well for him in the record stakes.

Francis is now 61.5 nm ahead of Thomas's reference position.

 

Screaming along now 36.5 knots! 309.5nm to go.