Going on Standby for Jules Verne

Yann Guichard, Dona Bertarelli and their crew will go on standby in Brest, a port city in Brittany, starting on Monday, October 19, for an attempt at the Jules Verne around-the-world record. They must beat the existing record time of 45 days, 13 hours and 42 minutes.

Parisian skipper Yann Guichard has dedicated his career to elite multihull sailing and has made more than 15 transatlantic crossings. But this will be his first around-the-world sail. "I must concentrate hard to make the right choices at the right time," says Yann. He and Dona set up Spindrift Racing together, and the couple are jointly responsible for the team’s day-to-day development and management.

"Apart from the competition itself, for Dona and me it is as much about the human adventure," says Guichard. "The record attempt brings together sailors who competed in Olympic series before turning to offshore competition and sailors with previous experience of oceanic record attempts and the Southern Ocean."

"The Jules Verne Trophy is the highlight of a program we drew up as soon as we bought the trimaran Spindrift 2," explains Bertarelli. "The tour around the world will require total physical, mental, professional and especially personal dedication. Yann and I are hugely motivated by this immense challenge. We’re also driven by a desire to share our passion for sailing with the public, especially youngsters, and to show them the hard work put in by our team."

If all goes as planned, Frenchman Francis Joyon’s 103-ft trimaran Idec Sport, recently rebranded from her Lending Club 2 colors, will be hot on Spindrift’s wake in an attempt to capture the same record. Joyon expects to go on standby in late October.