Wednesday 30th January – Press Release No.64
JULES VERNE TROPHY
(CREWED ROUND THE WORLD VIA THE THREE CAPES)
NEW REFERENCE TIME FOR GROUPAMA 3
The passage of the equator is the first intermediary time, which enables a
direct insight into how capable a candidate is of winning the Jules Verne
Trophy. Nearly a day ahead over the round the world reference course, Groupama 3
has gained a 408 mile lead and has just achieved the best ever time by a yacht
between Ushant and the equator: 6 days 6 hours 24 minutes!
Already sailing in the Southern hemisphere this Wednesday afternoon, Groupama 3
confirms what it had already demonstrated last summer when it racked up four
Atlantic records: though it has no inhibitions in wind in excess of 25 knots, in
relation to Bruno Peyron's catamaran, it is unquestionably the fastest giant
multihull below fifteen knots of breeze! Today’s new record time speaks volumes
as the boat passed the equator today in six days 6 hours and 24 minutes, whilst
the weather conditions weren't particularly favourable, a sure indication of the
trimaran's great potential... "Groupama-3’s speed is amazing whilst remaining
very safe: these giant multihulls are like metronomes when you analyse the
average speed at the end of the day! We made it to the equator in a little over
six days, which is the best ever time to date. It’s a great surprise. The
weather wasn’t very favourable though, with lots of wind holes, which meant we
really had to struggle… I think we could have done it in five days in a good
weather sequence, such as the one Francis Joyon had!” indicated Franck Cammas at
the lunchtime radio session this Wednesday.
Line of escape
Groupama 3 crossed into the Southern hemisphere this Wednesday at 1415 hours
GMT. Back on the pace again at over twenty knots at the start of the afternoon,
Franck Cammas and his nine crew will begin to increase their lead over Orange II
again since the latter was still sailing through the Doldrums three years ago to
the day. Indeed, the tradewinds of the Southern hemisphere are shaping up
nicely: with 15 knots of SE’ly at the equator, they will rapidly pass into a
building E'ly. Their acceleration to over 25 knots is therefore already in view
before the day is out and this is set to last until the weekend at least! “The
next tactical question is the rounding of the Saint Helena High and the entry
into the roaring 40’s: in principle, there is an opening ahead, which the crew
will doubtless be keen to grasp. If we do as well as Orange II, we’ll be very
happy. We don’t have any inhibitions as regards the holder of the Jules Verne
Trophy in the Deep South… It will simply be difficult to do better over this
stretch of the course...”
In fact the maxi catamaran took 7 days 5 hours 22 minutes to reach the longitude
of the Cape of Good Hope, as it benefited from a very favourable weather
situation, enabling it to set a course for the SE very early on, and therefore
considerably shorten the course, which normally requires boats to sail along the
Brazilian coast as far as the island of Trinidad, prior to veering off towards
Cape Town. Now this phenomenon seems likely to repeat itself over the Southern
Atlantic, which would get Groupama 3 on track to catch an Argentinean front! In
the meantime the giant trimaran is demonstrating that it has no problems with
speed, especially in light airs, that it doesn’t fear sailing upwind and that it
can lengthen its stride from fifteen knots of true wind. This result at the
equator is the first encouraging sign on the traces of Phileas Fogg and his
servant Jean Passepartout…
All about the tour
Passage at the equator
*Passage of the line by Groupama 3: Wednesday 30th January at 1415 GMT
*From Ushant to the equator: 6 days 6 hours and 24 minutes (Groupama 3-2008)
*Lead over the reference time established by Geronimo in 2003 (6d 11h 26’): 5
hours 2 minutes
*Lead over Orange II’s passage over the equator in 2005 (7d 02h 56’): 20 hours
32 minutes
Today’s interview
Interview with Franck Cammas:
“We haven’t had very good conditions since we left Ushant, which forced us to
make a lot of manœuvres. However, the weather window for the Southern hemisphere
was more favourable and indeed, right now it is shaping up nicely to enable us
to slip along under the Saint Helena High. We’re all going to discover the Deep
South together, with the cold and the discomfort of the Indian Ocean. Groupama 3
is accelerating very quickly but stops just as quickly… It requires a great deal
of attention at the helm. We are quite tired but there are two or three days to
come, which will be fairly stable, enabling us to recuperate. When it’s hot, the
resting watch come up on deck to get some air and have a bit of a chinwag! I am
very happy and very proud to be with this crew. I am the youngest aboard, but
everyone has something to say: we exchange ideas about the information we get
onboard as much as possible and I don’t have to act as referee very often...”
http://www.windreportmedia.com/sailing/groupama/fc20080130_fr_a2.mp3
“I have no regrets about setting out when we did as we were at the end of our
standby period and the sequence of weather patterns in the Southern Atlantic
were forecast to be good: the situation is a bit similar to that of Bruno Peyron
in 2005. Like him, we had to get in some westing to round the Doldrums and even
then we had three knots of breeze at times… For quarter of an hour, we really
wondered what we were doing! This Wednesday lunchtime, we are upwind, bearing
away slightly and we should cross the equator in three hours time: the sea is
fabulous and a lot of people would like to be in our place! To have a lead over
the record time is always gratifying and for the time being, Orange II is
‘virtually’ 400 miles behind. However, we know it’ll catch up with us sometimes
on this circumnavigation…”
http://www.windreportmedia.com/sailing/groupama/fc20080130_fr_a2.mp3
Rights free interview for the press, available by simple request – broadcast via
ISDN line, telephone or email. Contact Corentin Duroselle - Windreport’
on +33 (0)6 63 02 80 71 - +33 (0)2 40 84 30 00 - cod@windreport.com
During the record, find Franck Cammas and his crew everyday at 1100 GMT live
from Groupama 3. For this nothing could be simpler: www.cammas-groupama.com or
connect to the Groupama 3 / WindReport platform and ask your questions, by
calling 0 825 15 30 70 (0.15 € / min).
References: Jules Verne Trophy
Time to beat: 50 days 16 hours 20 minutes and 4 seconds – Average speed: 17.89
knots
Record held by Bruno Peyron, aboard the maxi catamaran Orange II, since March
2005.
Today’s figures
Start on 24th January at 0750’17’’ UT
Arrival before Saturday 15th March 2008 at 00h09'21'' UT
Day 6 at 07 45 UT
*Distance covered on the water in 24 hours: 423.3 miles
*Distance covered since the start: 2,993 miles
*Distance to the finish: 21,537 miles
*Average on day 6: 17.64 knots
*Average since the start: 20.78 knots
*Lead in relation to Orange II: 439.4 miles
Reference time
*Jules Verne Trophy: 50d 16h 20’ (Orange II in 2005)
Find a detailed cartography at: http://cammas-groupama.geovoile.com/julesverne
--
Kate Jennings
Expression.
P.O. Box 26,
Dartmouth,
DEVON.
TQ6 0YG
United Kingdom
+44 (0)7795 116699
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