Joyon Back In The Saddle

[Carl Spackler]

Francis knows how to keep them from inverting!

[Photoboy]

Higher, Faster and Lighter: The New IDEC SPORT Living Up To Expectations!

THE NEW VERSION OF THE IDEC SPORT MAXI-TRIMARAN SAILS HIGHER, FASTER AND IS LIGHTER
11 Apr 2018 | News




Francis Joyon and his team have been testing the new version of the IDEC SPORT maxi-trimaran for several days. The VPLP designed boat from 2006 has just come out of the yard after a three month long refit during the winter, during which she was made lighter, updated, rejuvenated and fitted with a new shape of foils aimed at offering more lift to the boat. Her first trials confirm that this has given her extra stability and she feels more balanced at the helm.

“We are due to leave La Trinité sur Mer next week to head for the Mediterranean,” announced Francis after a fine first week of sailing aboard an IDEC SPORT that has changed considerably. “We will make the most of this long delivery trip to Marseille and Nice (Nice Ultimed from 25th April to 6th May) to work on the adjustments and get to know the boat now that she is fitted with her new foils. We will be able to test our new rudders out at sea. The first trials with the foils with the new shape have been very positive. The lift has increased by around 30% and in very little wind we easily got up to 32 knots of speed. The new autopilots and mainsail track make IDEC SPORT very pleasant to steer. It really feels like she has made incredible gains in terms of balance and stability.” The IDEC SPORT maxi-trimaran will shortly be fitted with T-shaped rudders, the effect of which in conjunction with the new foils should enable her to rise even further out of the water.

The long delivery trip around Spain and Portugal and into the Mediterranean will also be an opportunity to find out more about the electronic and computer gear on board, as these too have been renewed. While Francis Joyon and his men are looking forward to the battle in the Med against the fleet of Ultimes, the skipper of IDEC SPORT is already concentrating on the Route du Rhum, which starts from St. Malo on 4th November. “We will be doing the delivery trip to Nice with a very small crew,” he explained. “The idea is to enable me to carry out manoeuvres as much as I can alone and to master sailing the boat single-handedly.”

[Photoboy]

This week, Francis Joyon’s maxi-trimaran, IDEC SPORT completed an extremely beneficial hibernation in Vannes on the hard standing area at the Multiplast yard. Today, she was put back in the water and her mast stepped. She is now equipped with her new foils, aimed at rejuvenating this record-breaking boat that was initially launched back in 2006.

The thorough update that Francis Joyon and his sponsor wanted after their triumphant Jules Verne Trophy now only needs to be tested and the boat fine-tuned. Francis and his crew will be taking advantage of a few weeks of sailing out of their home port of La Trinité-sur-Mer, before heading off to the Mediterranean, to Nice to be precise for the big new event for maxi multihulls, the Nice Ultimed, which will take place from 25th April to 6th May.

Francis Joyon and his associates, including Sébastien Picault, Corentin Joyon, Antoine Blouet, Ludovic Agloar, Gwénolé Gahinet, Quentin Ponroy and David Leven for the electronics, have been hard at work since the boat was taken into the yard on 22nd November. “This relaunch brings to an end three months of hard work, which occasionally was very tricky because of the weather conditions,” explained Francis. “The new foils with spoilers and the rudders with foils required some delicate work to be done on the boat, in order to match the various strains and stresses generated by this new generation of appendages. Many areas around the boat were carefully inspected and updated. This is the first time that the boat, which has twice won the Route du Rhum in the hands of two different teams and skippers, has been through such thorough structural work. We replaced a certain number of parts and systems.”

With the new features added this winter, IDEC SPORT, well known for her exceptional sailing qualities and the fact that she is a good all-rounder, has taken a giant leap forward in terms of performance. Will that be enough to compete with the more recent boats? That is the question for which Francis Joyon and his men, Sébastien Picault, Gwénolé Gahinet, Quentin Ponroy and Bernard Stamm hope to come up with some positive answers when they do battle alongside the others at the Nice Ultimed.