For the Défi Petit Navire in bay of Douarnenez August 19th-21st, Romain Pilliard, eol manager was crew on Francis Joyon’s trimaran IDEC.
Francis is the fastest single-handed sailor around the world, with his 27m trimaran IDEC.
The goal of this challenge is to cross the bay from Douarnenez to Morgat as fast as possible. The biggest interest is that all the floating machines using wind are invited. So we have different classes : trimaran 60, kitesurfs, windsurfs and « speed machines » which IDEC is in.
We went on successive runs in a gentle atmosphere. Skipper Fred Le Peutrec on Gitana XI won the Défi being the fastest with a time of 16,59minutes, meaning a 32,14 knots average ! IDEC crew was good but couldn’t be as fast as trimaran 60 are. IDEC best time was 21,16 minutes, a 25,67knots average. It is the 4th best time.
Impressions from Romain Pilliard after this Défi :
« This event is very interesting because it is the only opportunity to sail with sailors from other classes like windsurfs and kitesurfs. We have been very impressed by kitesurfers, who had this long run to make. 9 miles is very physical and technical on a kitesurf in a choppy sea.
Onboard IDEC, we pushed the boat hard and this trimaran is not used to that speed. The boat today is not made for crew racing because of Francis’serie of solo records, but we had a huge pleasure. Francis is probably one of the purest sailors. What he has done last winter on his record around the world is incredible. 72 days for this solo record is amazing and I admire his performance. Michel Desjoyeaux won the Vendée Globe in 93 days on his monohull, Ellen will have a hard time next winter for this challenge.
Therefore, it was a big opportunity for me to sail once more with Francis Joyon, and it’s always a pleasure to sail on these maxi boats. It was a good break after the management of kookaï on La Solitaire Afflelou Le Figaro this summer, which was quite…busy. »
