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Tuesday 10th November – Press release No.7
JULES VERNE TROPHY (CREWED ROUND THE WORLD VIA THE THREE CAPES)
Time to beat: 50 days 16 hours 20 minutes and 4 seconds
In the thick of the Doldrums!
Franck Cammas and his nine crew have crashed headlong into the Doldrums:
since 0400 hours UT this Tuesday morning, the tradewinds have given way to
stormy squalls. However, the first phase of this passage through the
‘tunnel’ is going rather well with the crew maintaining the same lead of 660
miles over the reference time and the exit from this zone scheduled for this
evening…
Already in sight of the Doldrums last night when the skies on the horizon
were striped with lightning and the rolls of thunder were audible in the
distance, Groupama 3 finally hit the zone around 0400 hours this Tuesday. At
the time there was still a little crescent of a moon to light up a seascape
in the throes of a major reshuffle: massive cumulonimbus heralding rains and
gusts of wind, a short chop coming at them head on reminiscent of the first
signs of the SE’ly tradewinds blowing across the equator, flying fish in
search of a breath of air before getting caught up in the trimaran’s
trampolines, a heavy, oppressive atmosphere coloured by a torrid, wet heat..
one can feel it approaching, one can feel it almost upon you and then
already it is snapping you up! The Inter-Tropical Convergence Zone is an
octopus playing with its prey, trying to ensnare you in its tentacles,
alternating between calm spells and flurries of wind, harsh changes in
temperature, torrential rain and blazing sunshine…
The way out’s over here…
However, the ‘dark side’ of the Doldrums has its weaknesses: in order to
find the way out into the Southern hemisphere, it is necessary to compromise
with the squalls, to momentarily distance oneself from the course, adapt the
sail area to the erratic breeze and dodge the shaded zones and the areas
without wind. Navigator Stan Honey, finally back to his old self after his
migraines, has been racking his brains… in a tunnel along 29° West. Groupama
3’s trajectory has been incredibly pure from Madeira to the narrowest and
least active point of entry in this mass of clouds. And so far this Tuesday
afternoon, the results are conclusive: though she has indeed slowed, the
speed of the giant trimaran has never dipped below fourteen knots!
“Last night there was a lot of lightning in the sky and we saw the cloud
masses on the radar. We didn’t suffer from too many gusts in the squalls:
instead the wind eased slightly as it shifted round. The manœuvres are
simple, but we’re on the look-out and the stand-by watch is on deck… The
weather window is proving to be more favourable than during our first
attempt a year and a half ago. We’re set to have another three or four hours
at a reduced pace of 15-16 knots, but we have just 3° of latitude (180
miles) to traverse before we hit the SE’ly tradewinds and hence a steadier
wind, albeit it in close-hauled configuration... We’re going to exit the
zone this evening!” confirmed Franck Cammas at the midday radio session.
Stifling heat
As such the Doldrums is proving highly cooperative and at this rate, the
crossing of the equator may well be done and dusted before Wednesday 1550
hours UT, which would mean a switch of hemispheres in under six days… This
would amount to at least six hours better than on Groupama 3’s previous
attempt in January 2008 (6d 6h 24’), but above all a bonus of more than a
day in relation to the reference time set by Bruno Peyron on the Jules Verne
Trophy!
“There’s not too much cloud in the sky: we weren’t able to take a shower,
but the crew is on deck in boxers! There’s an intense tropical heat here…
We’ve changed season. This lunchtime we’re sailing under full mainsail and
solent. Stan is looking at his charts and his satellite images in a bid to
escape the Doldrums as quickly as possible: the forecasts over the medium
term for negotiating the Saint Helena High have been fluctuating quite a lot
over the past few hours. If we manage to maintain our lead over Orange 2,
who had an exceptional run between the equator and the Cape of Good Hope,
that would be superb in itself!” concluded skipper Franck Cammas.
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
Translated by Kate Jennings – Expression
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