A 95-foot trimaran that capsized off the Southampton coast on Monday, en route to France on an attempt to break a world record, was hauled into Montauk Harbor on Wednesday.
Francis Joyon, a professional sailor who holds the world record for the fastest circumnavigation in a boat on his own, capsized around 5 a.m. on Monday morning, according to officials at the New Haven Coast Guard Sector.
According to thedailysail.com, Joyon was on a mission to break the transatlantic west to east record for a single sailor. He was the only person on board the IDEC and was not injured in the incident.
According to Petty Officer Anthony Kozak, New Haven received a call at 5:18 a.m. from Boston’s Coast Guard Sector, via France. Joyon reportedly contacted officials in his home country by satellite phone and a Coast Guard rescue boat out of Shinnecock Inlet arrived three hours later to find Joyon “in good spirits.”
According to thedailysail.com, Joyon is quoted as describing the incident as follows: “"I was in my seat to watch what was going on outside the boat. I was in the process of extricate myself from a meteorologically disturbed area close to the American coast. [Since starting] I had managed to sail about 90 miles in very irregular and highly unstable wind, shifting in direction and fluctuating between 10 and 30 knots. I went through some very intense squalls, marked by violent gusts, but it was when I thought I was leaving this area that I received a massive gust that catapulted the boat on its side.”
Kozak said Joyon chose to stay with his boat, and Coast Guard officials sent the 47-foot Tiger Shark to wait with Joyon - roughly 30 miles southeast of the Shinnecock Inlet - while a tugboat out of Port Jefferson dispatched to pull the catamaran into shore.
