Wednesday 6th February – Press Release No.71
JULES VERNE TROPHY
(CREWED ROUND THE WORLD VIA THE THREE CAPES)
The Atlantic in less than 2 weeks!
The passage of the Cape Agulhas is the second intermediary point of the Jules
Verne Trophy: Groupama 3 has accumulated a lead here of 23 hours and 30 minutes
over Orange II in 2005, by reaching the longitude 20° East after 13 days 8 hours
and 47 minutes! A new reference time was achieved this Wednesday at 1637 UT.
By leaving the Atlantic Ocean, Groupama 3 has already covered 7,200 miles, or
over quarter of the Jules Verne Trophy course, the complete loop amounting to
24,530 miles according to the optimal route possible. In conserving a lead of 23
hours and 30 minutes over Orange II’s reference time at the passage of Cape
Agulhas, the outer edge of South Africa, Franck Cammas and his men are
demonstrating that they are well on the pace of a Jules Verne Trophy attempt of
below fifty days… Despite the weather conditions being trickier to negotiate
than three years ago, Groupama 3 hasn't lost any time on the descent of the
South Atlantic and is therefore keeping its hopes alive of beating the round the
world speed record. The crew has nevertheless had to contend with numerous gybes
and has racked up more miles than its predecessor, yet still clawing back a lead
of 2 hours and 57 minutes on this section of the course between the equator and
South Africa.
“If all goes to plan, we should improve on Orange II’s time on entering the
Indian Ocean, but it’ll be a close run thing! We’ve covered a lot more ground
than Bruno Peyron in the Southern Atlantic, and heading into the North at the
start of the Indian Ocean doesn’t set us up particularly well for the next
stage. The maxi catamaran sailed a superb course between the equator and South
Africa, but we are still inside the time of the Jules Verne Trophy... It’s
reassuring! Of course we’re disappointed by the weather, which is complicating
things, but this intermediary time warms your heart a little..." said Franck
Cammas at the radio session this Wednesday lunchtime.
Enormous seas in the Indian Ocean
Indeed, the difficulty lies in the next three days as Groupama 3 won’t be able
to adopt a normal course. Due to a large low, which is picking its away along
under the bows of the giant trimaran, generating very big to enormous seas, with
12 metre waves, Franck Cammas and his nine crew having to adopt a more N’ly
course as a result. Added to this, they will have to sail 700 miles further!
However, to avoid these building seas, they're going to have to lay low for a
while…
“We shouldn’t have to reduce the sail area too much as we don't want the calm
conditions to catch up with us, but if things become too bad, we'll bear way a
little more… The wind won't be too strong over the coming days, at around 25
knots, but 500 miles to the South of us, there is 70 knots with a big swell,
which may well cause us some bother from tomorrow morning. We should find a more
manageable ocean from tomorrow evening, which will enable us to make easting
again (rather than a course to the NE)… But that’s the name of the game: Orange
II also lost some time over certain periods.”
Slight bulkhead damage
In addition, the skipper of Groupama 3 indicated that a bulkhead had come
unstuck a week ago: “We are in a zone with five metre waves, which are well
orientated but then, within the space of ten degrees, it can be a different ball
game… Due to the impact, which causes waves of vibrations from forward to aft,
everything is being shaken about down below, the men and the structure alike. A
bulkhead came away in this manner a week ago: we have laminated it but we need
to intervene again… This messed up the organisation aboard a little since I'm
doing the navigation and Yves Parlier is taking care of the work: it’s not easy.
We eased off the pace on the helm a bit too much, but that hasn't changed much
as regards our course and our average speed. The worst point is going to be in
24 hours time once the seas are more abeam of us… We look forward to coming out
the other side!”
Stéphane Guilbaud, team manager of the trimaran, explains the situation: “The
part in question is a central bulkhead on the aft beam, referred to as the C-0
because it’s right in the middle of the beam. For the time being, this slight
damage isn’t causing a problem and the crew is at the end of the repairs. The
first part of the intervention consisted of laying a sheet of carbon on the area
the day after the incident… The cause of the problem stems from the fact that
it's not solid enough in light of the stresses it absorbs. The technical team
had already encountered this problem on Groupama 2, without it preventing the
trimaran from completing its races.” The sailing conditions aren’t going to be
very pleasant then over the next 48 hours…
The weather for the circumnavigation
Sylvain Mondon, from Météo France
“The week has gone by since the equator in an atmosphere of SE'ly tradewinds,
backing to the East, then a stormy low came in from Brazil, pushing the Saint
Helena High towards South Africa. This has enabled Groupama 3 to have a fairly
similar trajectory to that of Orange II by taking a bit of a short cut in the
Southern Atlantic. Unfortunately, the wind angle didn’t enable the trimaran to
make it in a single tack and instead several realignments were necessary under
the Saint Helena High. However, Groupama 3 has nevertheless maintained some very
high speeds: we are expecting a passage at the longitude of Cape Agulhas this
Wednesday at 1637 UT.
In relation to the logical and usual courses on a circumnavigation, the trimaran
won’t have the opportunity to drop between 45° and 50° South due to very big
seas: 500 miles to its SE, there are waves of twelve metres! This unsettled
zone is forcing the boat onto a fairly N'ly course to keep its distance from
these waves, but it will still be sailing with 6-7 metre waves over the next 24
hours... In the middle of the Indian Ocean, to the North of the Kerguelen
Islands, it will end up in downwind breezes after making headway with the S’ly
wind on the beam. The extended course over the Indian Ocean can represent 700 to
800 miles between a course along 40° and one along 45° South, which equates to a
good day's sailing!”
Today’s interview
Interview from Franck Cammas, skipper and helmsman
“We have made a series of fifteen gybes in this descent, which relates to three
a day… For this manśuvre, you need to be attentive and have a lot of people on
deck. You have to move all the sails from one side to another. In addition you
have to move the gennaker and the mainsail, which is 700 m² all told! That takes
a good twenty minutes to adjust the foils, the mast, the sails… The gybe in
itself doesn't make us lose too much time, it really down to the extended
course, which made us go off at 90° to our intended heading… It’s between Brazil
and Africa that we lost most time. We can drop down the axis of the wind better
than a maxi catamaran, but when we have big seas, the speeds are fairly similar.
This cushion of advance is a really positive thing though: it's not just the
lead over the reference time that counts, but also the sailing conditions, which
are fairly pleasant… The Deep South is amazing: the phenomena are very quick,
the squalls, the clouds, the temperatures, everything changes fast. Between last
night and this lunchtime, it’s a completely different story: it was very cold
and now it’s mild. I’m discovering all this! Though we're not really in the
South yet... We're lacking the intense cold and the big seas. The light is very
captivating and the flight of the albatross is superb…”
http://www.windreportmedia.com/sailing/groupama/fc20080206_fr_a.mp3
"It’s a place with a great deal of meteorological contrast, which is dangerous
for boats and crews, but also fascinating. The fauna, the albatross… it’s a
fabulous spectacle [...]"
http://www.windreportmedia.com/sailing/groupama/fc20080206_fr_b.mp3
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.
All about the circumnavigation
Passage into the Indian Ocean
*Passage at the longitude of Cape Agulhas by Groupama 3: Wednesday 6th February
at 1637’ UT
*From Ushant to Cape Agulhas: 13 d 08 hr and 47 min (Groupama 3)
*Lead over the reference time established by Orange II in 2005 (14d 08h 18’): 23
hr 30’
*From the equator to Cape Agulhas: 7 d 02 h 22’ (Groupama 3)
*Lead over the reference time established by Orange II in 2005 (7d 05h 19’): 2
hr 57’
Today’s figures
Start on 24th January at 07h50’17’’ UT
Arrival before Saturday 15th March 2008 at 00h09'21'' UT
Day 13 at 0800’ UT
* Distance covered on the water in 24 hours: 648.4 miles
* Distance covered since the start: 7,011 miles
* Distance to the finish:17,519 miles
* Average on day 13: 27.01 knots
* Average since the start: 22.47 knots
* Lead in relation to Orange II: 490.5 miles
Find a detailed cartography at: http://cammas-groupama.geovoile.com/julesverne
Reference Time
* Jules Verne Trophy: 50d 16h 20’ (Orange II in 2005)
* Cape Agulhas-Tasmania: 9d 11h 04’ (Orange II in 2005)
Kate Jennings
Expression.
P.O. Box 26,
Dartmouth,
DEVON.
TQ6 0YG
United Kingdom
+44 (0)7795 116699
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