Right in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, Francis Joyon and his men are giving it their all for this final battle, clocking up supersonic speeds. In four days, they are expected to cross the line off Ushant. But before that, they have some rough weather ahead…

After being caught yesterday morning by the low-pressure system, which enabled them to get into the Southern Ocean at high speed, the IDEC SPORT maxi trimaran had to gybe, when the front went over and entered a patch of light winds offering low speeds, while they await stronger winds coming down from the north. Francis Joyon and his crew of five are diving down into the wilderness of the Southern Ocean attempting to slide under the South African high, accompanied by a ridge of high pressure, which is also moving eastwards.

After a favourable North Atlantic, the Southern Hemisphere is proving to be more complicated. That is however what Francis Joyon and his crew of five were expecting when they set out from Brest on this attempt to grab the outright round the world record, the Jules Verne Trophy. Their goal of getting to the Equator in record time in just over five days was achieved. Now they have to face the huge, sleepy St Helena high, which determines what happens in the South Atlantic.