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Monday 9th November – Press release No.6
JULES VERNE TROPHY
(CREWED ROUND THE WORLD VIA THE THREE CAPES)
Time to beat: 50 days 16 hours 20 minutes and 4 seconds
Tropical heat
Past the Cape Verde archipelago with a considerable lead over the reference
time, Groupama 3 is now preparing to negotiate the Doldrums, a very cloudy,
turbulent zone which announces the entrance to the Southern hemisphere.
Navigator Stan Honey is fighting fit again and is working relentlessly to
find a favourable ‘tunnel’ through…
Groupama 3 is ahead of schedule! The weekend proved to be a positive one
with nearly 1,200 miles covered in 44 hours… As such, this average speed of
27 knots has reversed the trend: 115 miles behind at Cape Finisterre in
relation to Bruno Peyron’s record, the separation has switched to nearly 450
miles this Monday afternoon, in favour of Franck Cammas and his men. A lead
of over a day! Added to that, the next stage of the course also promises to
be positive since the Doldrums is already practically within sight. Indeed
it seems to be positioned at 8° North without being overly active, with the
exception of some big clouds spanning less than a hundred miles. Furthermore
the E’ly wind of around a dozen knots isn’t likely to drop off dramatically,
other than for brief periods beneath the clouds.
Running smoothly
The harsh, headwinds from the first day at sea are already a distant memory:
tropical heat, downwind conditions and smoother seas on which to slip along
nicely, have this Monday enabled the crew a short spell of recuperation
after the weekend’s supersonic speeds and prior to attacking the Doldrums.
However, they are going to have to remain on their guard against variations
in the wind and squalls…
“This lunchtime, we’re just a stone’s throw away from a squall which is
about to hit… We’re sailing under large gennaker, staysail and full
mainsail. We’ve performed a fair number of manœuvres since gybing off
Madeira. We’re staying on the same heading but constantly adjusting the sail
area. Six or seven of us at a time are carrying out all the manœuvres
according to which sails need changing ; that way the resting watch can
conserve their energy. The preparation we’ve been doing since the spring is
bearing fruit: the manœuvres are smooth and quick. Things are going really
well amidst an atmosphere of total mutual trust. The only relative
difficulty is getting to sleep in the intense heat” indicated Frédéric Le
Peutrec at the midday radio session.
Flying fish
Since passing offshore of the Cape Verde archipelago, the NE’ly wind has
eased slightly (around 16-20 knots), but Groupama 3’s average speed remains
locked above 25 knots. This is set to continue as far as 8° North, which
translates as the end of the night on the water, as the tradewinds back
(become more E’ly than NE’ly). The upshot of this will be a beam wind
enabling the giant trimaran to maintain her current speed before tackling
the tradewinds of the Southern hemisphere which will shift round to the SE.
“Our navigator is a lot better this morning and has a lot on his plate
monitoring developments in the weather: it’s reassuring to see that he’s
better as he really wasn’t very well at all for the first few hours. We
thought it was due to the violent introduction, but it was something else:
after suffering with migraines and a fever, he’s fighting fit now… The point
of impact with the Doldrums is something he’s been working on for what has
already been two days, with Sylvain Mondon, our onshore router, but we’re
having to adapt to the direction and strength of the wind. We hope it’ll be
virtually inexistent!” added Groupama 3’s watch leader. In the meantime, a
‘plague’ of flying fish have been landing on the multihull’s trampolines:
“However, they’re too small to even consider preparing them with lemon juice
and a dribble of olive oil” concluded Fred.
The crew and organisation aboard Groupama 3:
* Watch No.1: Franck Cammas / Loïc Le Mignon / Jacques Caraës
* Watch No.2: Stève Ravussin / Thomas Coville / Bruno Jeanjean
* Watch No.3: Fred Le Peutrec / Lionel Lemonchois / Ronan Le Goff
* Off watch navigator: Stan Honey goes up on deck for manoeuvres
* Each watch lasts three hours
* One watch system on deck, one watch on stand-by ready to help
manœuvre, one watch totally resting
The record to beat
Currently held by Bruno Peyron on Orange 2 since 2005 with a time of 50 days
16 hours 20 minutes at an average of 17.89 knots. Lionel Lemonchois, Ronan
Le Goff and Jacques Caraës were aboard at the time.
Race HQ, 21 Bld Malesherbes, 75008 Paris
Open to the public from 0930 to 1900 hours
Daily telephone link-up from 1130 to 1200 hours
Weekly videoconference on Thursdays from 1230 to 1330 hours
Find all the latest about the Groupama trimarans on:
www.cammas-groupama.com
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Translated by Kate Jennings – Expression
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