Jules Verne Finit

Spindrift 2 finished her Jules Verne Trophy attempt on Friday afternoon. The 130-ft VPLP trimaran, skippered by Frenchman Yann Guichard and helmed by his Swiss partner Dona Bertarelli, crossed the line off Ushant Island at 3 p.m. UTC after 47 days, 10 hours, 59 minutes, 2 seconds at sea, registering the second fastest time in history. The team claims that this accomplishment makes Bertarelli the fastest woman to have sailed around the world. 

"It was really nice because it’s a team of real friends," said Bertarelli. "But it’s also because of having been able, somehow, to exorcise my fears, those fears of plunging into the Southern Ocean or being so far from anything." She didn’t sleep much on the last night. "There was so much emotion and adrenaline."

With a time of 45 days 13 hours 54 minutes 49 seconds, Loïck Peyron will retain the 21,600-mile Jules Verne course. Ironically, Peyron set the record in 2012 with the same boat, then named Banque Populaire V.

A bit later on Friday, the IDEC Sport crew also finished their Jules Verne attempt. Francis Joyon’s 105-ft trimaran crossed the finish line off Ushant at 4:50 p.m. UTC after taking 47 days, 14 hours, 47 minutes to sail around the world, the third best time in the history of the Jules Verne Trophy. Since 2008, Joyon has held the nonstop, singlehanded, around-the-world record of 57 days and change.

We’ll have much more on this latest dual attempt in the February issue of Latitude 38, including a recap of shorter records broken during portions of the journey.