On Thursday, July 7, only a day after smashing the record for the fastest solo crossing of the Atlantic, Francis Joyon’s trimaran IDEC went ashore after 0100 on rocky Pointe de Penmarc’h, France. Joyon was rescued unharmed, but the boat was wrecked.
The previous day, Joyon had destroyed the solo west-to-east trans-Atlantic record when his 90-foot multihull crossed the finish line after a sprint of six days four hours one minute 37 seconds. Joyon hacked more than 22 hours 33 minutes off the record – at an average speed of more than 19 knots.
While returning to France in the early morning of July 7, Joyon was approaching Pointe de Penmarc’h when he reduced sail, put the boat on autopilot and went to sleep. When he awoke, roughly an hour later, the autopilot had malfunctioned and put the 20-year-old boat aground.