To take the Jules Verne Trophy in 2003 means beating the time of 64 days, 8 hours, 37 minutes and 22 seconds.(12/17/2002)

The Jules Verne Trophy course stands as a permanent challenge. Sailors who attempt it must cross through no less than 17 different weather systems. The Bay of Biscay, the North Atlantic, the Doldrums, the Southern Ocean, Cape Horn and the final leg home northwards through the Atlantic: all require accurate forecasting and great sailing skill if their many hazards are to be avoided!

“The Jules Verne Trophy course is the most complete there is!”.

Olivier de Kersauson is fascinated by the meteorological complexity of this global course that takes competitors around the Cape of Good Hope, Cape Leeuwin and Cape Horn and whose start and finish line is an imaginary one set between the Lizard Point and Ushant. “This course takes you through 17 different weather systems, so you have to have as much information as possible and the ability to anticipate what might come next. On a circumnavigation, all you can do is choose the weather at the time you cross the start line. After that, you have to make the best of what comes your way”.

Like all records, the Jules Verne Trophy begins with a standby period during which the skipper and his crew must wait for the best weather window and therefore the best opportunity to get off to a good, fast start.

The strategy for any Round-the-World attempt is determined by many factors.

The start date will determine the period in which competitors must face the critical and dangerous challenge of the Southern Ocean. They must try to leave Europe at a time that will bring them into these dangerous seas before the start of the southern winter.

In choosing their weather window, skippers and routers must make their decisions on the basis of the winds in the area around the start and through the Bay of Biscay.

In winter, North Atlantic weather is usually characterised by a succession of low pressure systems which create very strong south-south-westerlies. This means that boats are meeting the wind head-on as they make the first dash for the Equator and have to cope with heavy seas in the Bay of Biscay. The trick is therefore to find a calm period between weather systems to avoid conditions that may prove too dangerous.

The next challenge is to find the quickest way around the Azores High and pick up the first of the trade winds. These famous Easterlies are found either side of the Equator and are usually well-established in the Northern hemisphere in mid-winter. They can usually be relied upon to carry a boat all the way to the Equator, but first you have to find them!

The other major variable is the northern limit of drift ice. North of this line, skippers can be fairly sure that they won’t meet too many icebergs, the problem being that icebergs are usually followed by a line of “growlers” – or smaller blocks of sea ice – extending for several kilometres. The choice of latitude here is critical because it significantly affects the length of the course. The further south the boat travels, the shorter the course – a nerve-racking compromise.

challenging conditions

“We have seen weather systems change since 1996”, says Olivier de Kersauson.
“The North Atlantic current has changed a lot. We’ve seen low pressure systems 5000 kilometres across with few changes in wind direction. This year, there have been no Caribbean cyclones. Since warm air must evaporate, there have been no longer any real trade winds to speak of, which is why it is so important to analyse every aspect of the weather in detail and to keep a close eye on what is really happening”.

As competitors approach the Equator, they must find a way through the famous Doldrums, where the weather systems of the Northern Hemisphere meet those of the South to create winds that are often very weak and highly variable. The unpredictability of this area of the globe sometimes baffles even the best meteorologists!

Once across the Equator, crews must beat against the trade winds (ed.: sail directly into the wind) before picking up the westerlies generated by the low pressure systems of the Southern Ocean. The Roaring Forties and the Furious Fifties. All the way from the Cape of Good Hope to Cape Horn, crews must endure a world of storms, extreme cold, giant waves and sea ice. In these challenging conditions, sailing often becomes a matter of survival and is always fraught with the permanent dilemma of whether to go further south to shorten the route or stay north to avoid the ice.

“Last time, we arrived in the South Pacific in April and it seemed as if the whole world was closing in as winter took hold. All animal life was gone, even the albatrosses. It really is a very harsh place”, says Olivier de Kersauson.

Which is why the rounding of Cape Horn has long been symbolic of deliverance and salvation. “Once you’ve rounded Cape Horn, you know you’re not going to die and that you’ve left behind a world in which it’s best not to linger”, he adds.

The return leg north through the Atlantic usually means much better weather, but crews cannot relax their vigilance. Both the Doldrums and the Azores High can rob crews of any advantage gained in the Southern Ocean well before they enter the Bay of Biscay and head for the finish line.

It’s all down to the weather!

And now it’s Geronimo’s turn to fight for the dream.