SPORT-ELEC in January 1997 in 71 days 14 h 22 minutes

Description

Kersauson is racing against the clock on ENZA. Since descending the South Atlantic, the weather has been a mix of calms, headwinds, and violent squalls, but no major event has hindered the trimaran's progress. Sport-Elec's average speed has remained constant: between 18 and 20 knots. A tropical depression soon blocks its path. They must head south to avoid the storm, which threatens to be violent. Choosing to skirt it to the north would considerably lengthen the course and mean giving up on the trophy. Bob Rice is adamant: there's only one solution left, "go for the ice." "It's mind-blowing," says Kersauson, "sometimes you feel like ENZA is right behind you, then you realize you're alone, far from everything, in the middle of the largest deserted expanse in the world." And in a minefield, or rather, a minefield of icebergs. On the night of April 24, the trimaran rounded Cape Horn, 33 hours ahead of its virtual competitor. The boat, perfectly aligned with the sea and the wind, glided along at 26 knots. The finish was arduous. No final sprint for Sport-Elec, but tacks all the way to Ushant, where the ebb tide of a spring tide welcomed the trimaran. The Sport-Elec crew crossed the finish line on the morning of May 19, 1997, at 8:59:39 a.m., in 15 knots (27 km/h) of wind. The Jules Verne Trophy was theirs.