Clipper Route record expected to be smashed by IDEC SPORT

The Clipper Route record is expected to be broken tomorrow as the IDEC SPORT maxi trimaran, skippered by Francis Joyon, achieves an average of 27 knots on the direct route towards the Channel Approaches, and its London end-point.

The time to beat is 36 days, 2 hours and 37 minutes (Giovanni Soldini /Maserati, 2018), with the current lead exceeding 700 miles and a duration of circa 31 days since leaving Hong Kong.

These figures do not reveal just how tough the conditions currently are. According to Francis Joyon, they are in “survival mode” in violent squalls with waves in excess of six metres due to the series of storms that recently swept across Northern Europe.

The sail up the English Channel will be very tense because of the incredible amount of shipping. There will be no time for the crew to ease off before they pass under the QE II Bridge, which officially marks the end of this historic route, after sailing halfway around the world.

Francis Joyon has asked his crew of four to be particularly cautious and concentrate on the task in hand. The strong NW’ly winds are far from being steady in strength and direction, and the periods spent at the helm are close to that of a high-wire act.

“The squalls are very violent and come without warning,” he says. “The wind suddenly strengthens so quickly that sometimes we find ourselves with a bit too much sail up. You then really have to hold on tight to the helm and wait for the squall to pass over while getting soaked in the heavy rain. In these conditions, and because of the sea state, we are between 20 and 30 percent below the full potential of the boat.”

As they reach the Rochebonne Shelf with the sudden falls in depth, the sea conditions are not going to improve and this 31st day of racing looks like one of the most difficult for the crew.

“The only way to move around the deck is by crawling,” adds Francis. “We really need to be careful to avoid injuring ourselves when moving around. It’s a bit like being in survival mode at times.”

The legendary Clipper Route is a long route (13,000 theoretical miles) with lots of weather systems to deal with and it includes rounding the Cape of Good Hope from East to West, before a long climb back up the Atlantic all the way to London. The record has been held since February 2018 by Giovanni Soldini and his crew on the Multi 70, Maserati.

In the nineteenth century, the commercial rivalry between various countries led to a generation of big sailing ships to carry out real races around the shipping routes. The economic stakes were high and on top of that the pride of the sailors and the reputation of the companies led to the first records in the history of sailing being created.

The major clipper race of 1866 was an unofficial competition between the fastest clippers in the British commercial fleet. It started in China with the aim of bringing the first cargo of tea of the season back to London.

There was fierce competition between the vessels. This race went on to become a tradition in the tea trade between the United Kingdom and China. The winning vessel received a special bonus for each ton of freight delivered and her captain earned a percentage of the ship’s profit.

At the time, it took more than three months to sail the Clipper Route, across the South China Sea, the Sunda Strait in Indonesia, the Indian Ocean, the Cape of Good Hope at the tip of Africa, and then climb back up the Atlantic to the English Channel. This was the fastest route for ships at that moment, as the Suez Canal was still being built.