Posted by 
Although Gitana Team is extending its stand-by for a few more days, the Spindrift Racing team announced this week that, after four months of fruitless waiting, it is giving up on tackling the Jules Verne Trophy for this season in this report from Tip & Shaft.
Never has the crewed round the world record which has been set by Francis Joyon since 2017 been held for so long. The actual magnitude of the feat of Idec Sport and now also the difficulty in finding a properly favorable weather pattern partially explain why the Jules Verne Trophy remains so elusive.
On March 1, the end of stand-by was announced by the Spindrift Racing team, which gave up setting out on Sails of Change, led by Yann Guichard, to attack the world record. Maxi Edmond de Rothschild (Charles Caudrelier) continues to hold on on standby for some more days, but time is running out because the Jules Verne can no longer be attempted once the austral summer is over, the conditions in the South Seas then become just too tough and dangerous. “
“We are extending stand by for the meantime to give ourselves every possible chance, even if the North Atlantic is still not good”, confirms Cyril Dardashti, general manager of Gitana Team.
And so one thing is clear, again this winter – 2022-2023 – has not been favorable for a start to a Jules Verne Trophy. The Sails of Change crew believed it possible twice, meeting in Brest on both occasions, but possible weather windows on January 14 and 26 finally closed. “We really hesitated to leave, we watched the weather forecast until the final minutes, our boots were already on our feet and actually decision not to leave is more difficult to make than that to leave,” says Yann Guichard.
These two windows were also considered by Charles Caudrelier and his five crew members who, on February 12, saw another one and the Maxi Edmond de Rothschild did set off, before turning around a few hours later due to damage to part of their generator…
Follow Us!