Spindrift 2 abandons fourth world attempt
A sudden rudder failure aboard the 130ft maxi trimaran Spindrift 2 in December brought to an end the crew’s fourth attempt to break the non-stop round the world record. Yann Guichard and his crew were only a day out from the start line at Ushant and at full speed in strong winds when ‘a major rudder problem’ became apparent and it took two crew wrestling the wheel to bring the boat back under control.
Rudder problems have plagued the team for the last year. In 2018, the crew was ahead of the record time in the Indian Ocean when the starboard rudder broke following a night-time collision. The crew was forced to abandon the attempt and sail to Fremantle.
Following the repatriation of the boat to France, the team built two new rudders, which were fitted in September.
However, the crew soon found after they set off on 3 December that the new rudders were unable to control the trimaran at speeds beyond 35 knots, making it too dangerous to continue.
“We tried a number of times to solve the problem, but it keeps reappearing at high speeds and we can not control Spindrift 2, even with two crew on the helm,” explained Guichard.
“It was not prudent to continue like this, because there is a risk of total loss of the trimaran at high speed.
“Given the problems we have to solve, at the moment, I do not think it is realistic to leave this [season] for an attempt on the Jules Verne Trophy,” he added.
‘We cannot control Spindrift 2, even with two crew on the helm’
“This is a massive disappointment for the whole team because we had found a good weather window to leave.”
The current round the world record was set in 2017 by Francis Joyon and his crew on IDEC Sport and stands at 40d 23h. Spindrift’s quest now spans five years, as the team has made an attempt to break the record each year since 2016.
Their fourth failure is a measure of how difficult this has become. To break what is now one of the hardest records in sport a team must develop a boat that is reliable and controllable at high speeds as well as have luck on their side – to meet favourable winds on the return through the Atlantic and avoid damage or collisions. And on top of that they need sufficient funds to tide a team over repeated attempts.