The Famous Project CIC Jules Verne Trophy Update - A long, fast tack in the trade winds

The first five days for the all female team on the The Famous Project CIC circumnavigation saw a cautious departure in rough seas and stormy squalls and a tricky crossing of an anticyclonic ridge off the coast of Portugal. Alexia Barrier, Dee Caffari, Annemieke Bes, Rebecca Gmür Hornell, Deborah Blair, Molly LaPointe, Támara Echegoyen and Stacey Jackson have since been sailing downwind in the trade winds. The maxi trimaran is shaking off the dust and lengthening its stride south of the Cape Verde Islands. The next challenge is the Doldrums, the Intertropical Convergence Zone, just above the equator, where the north-east and south-east trade winds collide, creating an area of great stormy instability, where sudden gusts of over 30 knots alternate with endless moments of dead calm. We hear from the team on board, including a repair of one of their wheels, take a look at the tracker and the Doldrums, then enjoy some epic footage from about the trimaran. You can follow the race via the tracker at https://trimaran-idec.geovoile.com/julesverne/2025/viewer/ Thumbnail photo and onboard video (c) Deborah Blair #sailing #roundtheworld #trimaran #recordattempt