The Famous Project CIC kicked off its Jules Verne record attempt this weekend, sailing the 103-foot IDEC Sport south at a blistering pace. The goal? The fastest global circumnavigation by sail.
The time to beat is 40 days 23 hours 30 minutes 30 seconds, set in 2017 by Francis Joyon and his crew (for those who are counting, that’s over three weeks faster than the fastest Vendée Globe finish). The Jules Verne Trophy is named for the author of Around the World in 80 Days—the time to beat in order to earn the original trophy, achieved back in 1993. Now, over 30 years later, the record is half that.
Perhaps the biggest challenge to breaking the round the world record is that beyond a certain point it’s out of the sailor’s hands. The right weather is absolutely crucial to setting a new record, and that’s largely up to chance beyond the forecasts that can be done before the start.
The current record was posted in near-perfect conditions for the initial stages of the course, and until the next big technological advancement makes a significantly faster boat possible, it still comes down to selecting a weather window that will give sailors an edge. Yann Guichard and Dona Bertarelli’s 2021-2023 Spindrift campaign, for example, never really got underway because a window that would have made a record-breaking circumnavigation possible never materialized.
Barrier is considering a different approach. An all-female team has never completed the non-stop, around the world sail (Tracy Edwards made an attempt in the 90s and was on pace to break the record until her boat dismasted in the Southern Ocean). So, Barrier and her seven-woman crew planned to set out even if the conditions for a perfect attempt didn’t happen, hoping to put the first all-female record on the board.
“Once we leave a harbor with the window we think is the best, even if there is another window coming a week after, we are not coming back. We just carry on because we want to establish this first time for women, first time ever around the planet, non-stop, and unassisted team sailing on a multihull,” she says.
“It’s important to deliver on what we’re saying we’re doing and then we can get faster and faster each attempt. It doesn’t have to be one attempt and over and done,” co-skipper Dee Caffari adds. “I’m convinced that if we’re still laughing and joking how we are now by the time we’ve finished, there’ll be more to come.”
For more on this attempt, read Lindsay Gimple’s article from SAIL’s special issue, Multihull Power & Sail.
To follow The Famous Project CIC on the course, check out the tracker and follow them on social media.
Photo by Robin Christol, courtesy of The Famous Project CIC
