IDEC/Joyon depart for RTW solo record attempt

Francis Joyon, on board his maxi-tri IDEC, have left port to begin their attempt for a new, solo, Round The World record. Joyon hopes to eclipse the mark set by Ellen MacArthur, which itself, was a record that just beat Joyon's previous mark.

Thomas Coville and his maxi-tri Sodeb'O were also scheduled to leave this weekend. He is in Sables d'Olonne, replacing the onboard engine with a smaller unit, as well as provisioning with the fresh foods he will carry on his trip. Prior to the engine swap, the team changed a leaking hydraulic cylinder on board. I suspect, that as soon as repairs can be successfully completed, Coville will also begin his own chase for the record.

Interestingly enough, and with all the blabbing about banana lifting foils for these monsters, Joyon has opted to go with a less fussy daggerboard in the vaka hull for IDEC. It remains to be seen just what foil concoction Coville shows-up with upon his departure. All the photos I have seen of the big, Sodeb'O tri from the last few days prior to the intended departure, indicate that Coville is also going with the single, vaka hull mounted daggerboard. No doubt this is much more dependable, as well as more safely managed, compared to scrambling out on an ama in really bad Southern Ocean weather, should there be a problem.

With the Barcelona Race guys down the course a bit on their Open60 monohulls, it will be interesting to see how long it takes Joyon and then Coville, to catch them with their potentially superior speed.

 

Mistake?

Chris,maybe it was just a posting mistake but when Jeff has gone to all the trouble to provide a"Multihulls" forum it seems a shame to post this thread in amongst the mono's. This doesn't help the mono vs multihull thing at all....
Maybe Jeff can move it?
For those interested in the subject matter there are two threads located under "Multihulls" on the subject of the design of these boats:
"...foil assist on IDEC" http://www.boatdesign.net/forums/showthread.php?t=18960
"Groupama 3..."
http://www.boatdesign.net/forums/showthread.php?t=18525

 

No Problemo

...don't see any shame in it at all, Doug.

Apparently the World Sailing Speed Record Council doesn't see any either, as they do not differentiate multihulls as a separate class when it comes to major speed records over which they govern.

If you'd like to read about the way that they determine the many different records in their governance, have at it... http://www.sailspeedrecords.com/

There's a really cool section of data that shows the official records for Around the World Sailing since they began to keep this record data.
http://www.sailspeedrecords.com/roundnonstop.html

Nowhere on that list is a sign that multihulls are treated any differently than any other sailboat. It looks like when it comes to holding the record, it's a "run what you brung" kind of affair.

If you'd like to see the passage from the rules that shows the various classes for sailing craft as it applies to RTW records, here's the paragraph that applies.

20. OFFSHORE WORLD RECORDS

a. The World Record for the passages listed in Rule 26 will be held by the yacht and skipper, which establishes the shortest elapsed time in accordance with these rules.

b. Any offshore record can be held in any of the following categories:
 Any type of vessel, any number of crew (the outright record)
 Any type of vessel, sailed singlehanded
 Any type of vessel, sailed singlehanded by a woman
 Monohull vessel, any number of crew
 Monohull vessel, sailed singlehanded
 Monohull vessel, sailed singlehanded by a woman
 Any type of vessel, any number of all female crew
 Monohull vessel, any number of all female crew


From this passage in the rules, it looks like the only differentiation is in regards to monohull craft and not multihulls. Since the previous post here at Boatdesign.net is about sailboats and the World Council sees multihulls as sailboats fit to hold World Records by that title, what's holding you back from acknowledging the same thing?

Don't let your "problem" with no cats in the Oly races, fog your ability to make decisions for you. This is not emotional, Doug, it's just a bunch of guys stuck on land, knocking around the topic of ultra big and fast sailboats, no matter their configuration.

When you select-out these boats as multihull specific, you are the one who is further alienating the sailing community from the inclusion of multihulls as sailboats. Don't you think that multihulls deserve full respect in the widest possible interpretation? When the WSSRC sees it that way, it would behoove you to do the same. Anything else is just more segregation of type.