Multihull record broken in Europe 1 New Man Star

Francis Joyon sets a new record to win the Europe 1 New Man Star

The record had stood for 12 years. In 1988 Philippe Poupon Fleury Michon IX won the STAR in 10 days 09 hours 15'. But this morning, as the dawn was breaking in Newport, Rhode Island, Francis Joyon sailed his Class One trimaran Eure et Loir aross the finish line to break the record. Joyon finished in 9 days, 23 hours and 21 minutes, a gain of 9 hours and 54 minutes over Poupon, and has posted a new standard for this distinguished competition.

To earn a place in the history books, Joyon had to battle severe storms with punishing winds and waves that capsized one of his competitors and dismasted 3 of the Class One monohulls. He navigated through icebergs and shipping fleets, and fought off fatigue to hand steer for most of the final 2 days when the outcome seemed in doubt.

But this morning, the effort paid off, as Joyon and Eure et Loir, made history with a record-breaking run.

Class One Multihulls

Class One Multihulls DTF (nm) 14th June (positions estimated):
1. Francis Joyon   ‘Eure et Loir’ - Finished at 1231hrs (French Time) 
2. Marc Guillemot  ‘Biscuits la Trinitaine’ 45m
3. Franck Cammas   ‘Groupama’               55m
4. Alain Gautier   ‘Foncia’                100m
5. Jean-Luc Nelias ‘Belgacom’              490m

Francis Joyon

Francis Joyon (Eure et Loir) is considered a character among characters in the offshore sailing world. Joyon began his offshore career in an emphatic way, he started with long boat journeys, and a full circumnavigation under sail.

His interest in offshore racing had its genesis when he started to build a catamaran from discarded multihulls. He used the hull from Elf Aquitaine I and the beam from Roger and Gallet. With his jigsaw puzzle of a boat, he surprised everyone during the Route de la Decouverte (Discovery Route) and the Route de Rhum. Soon after, he started building Banque Populaire, a Nigel Irens design.

For four years he was a threat in the offshore races, although he didn’t have the same success on the Grand Prix circuit. His grace under pressure and humility, along with his incredible physical conditioning, have allowed him to compete at the highest level for more than a decade. In the Plymouth – Newport race, he had a 300 mile lead off of Newfoundland when he capsized. In the last Route du Rhum, he took a route through the tradewinds that hadn’t been used for years, and although the weather was not favourable, Joyon crossed the Atlantic in just over 10 days with his Gennaker flying the entire way.

Joyon has a bucketful of top three finishes in his career, but this is his first major win. A well deserved victory as a cap on a stellar offshore career.

Class One Monohulls

Ellen MacArthur (Kingfisher) is struggling to hold on to her lead in the Class One monohulls. All the monohulls have slowed since last night, but Roland Jourdain (Sill Beurre le Gall) has managed to keep his speed up to the point where he for much of the night, he was going at least 4 knots faster than MacArthur. At the 0716 GMT position sweep, he trailed by just 1.7 miles. Jourdain is still 30 miles South of MacArthur, and that has allowed to him to avoid the same drop in wind that is plaguing Kingfisher, for most of the morning. Catherine Chabaud has also taken another 20 miles out her deficit, and now trails by 72 miles.

Class One Monohulls DTF (nm) at 0716 GMT 14th June:

1. Ellen MacArthur ‘Kingfisher’          906
2. Roland Jourdain ‘Sill Beurre le Gall’ 908
4. Catherine Chabaud ‘Whirlpool’         978
3. Mike Golding ‘Team Group 4’           988
5. Thierry Dubois ‘Solidaires’          1030

More Information:

• Event Website