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15.11.2009
JULES VERNE TROPHY
(CREWED ROUND THE WORLD VIA THE THREE CAPES)
Time to beat: 50 days 16 hours 20 minutes and 4 seconds
Sunday 15th November – Press release No.12
Schussing along
The calm conditions colouring the past 48 hours are definitively over: with
the arrival of a Brazilian depression system the acceleration has been
instant and is set to last for several days. Evidence of this comes with the
70 miles gained on Orange 2 in the space of seven hours this Sunday morning.
The wait has been long and the change of pace brutal: blocked at times
making less than five knots until last night, Groupama 3 has found her wings
again and is powering away at an average of thirty knots this Sunday
afternoon! This is all thanks to a gust of tropical heat originating in Rio
de Janeiro, which is dropping down to the Furious Fifties, passing beneath
South Africa, before continuing its voyage at least as far as the Kerguelen
archipelago, if not further…
“Before the start we identified the fact that between 14th and 16th
November, two depression systems were going to form over Brazil. As such we
knew we had to hook onto one or the other because after that there was no
possible way through. We had to be on time for the encounter… For the next
24 hours, it’s going to be the same wind accompanying them, a N to NE’ly
breeze of 15 to 20 knots, which will enable them to power up with open
sails. There will just be a small SE’ly swell, which will subside as the
skies become more overcast and the bad weather seeks to catch up with them…
Some very high speeds will be on the programme over the next two days!”
explained Sylvain Mondon from Météo France.
Ahead of the warm front
“We’ve had a hard time psychologically because five knots of breeze for such
a long period wasn’t easy to bear… It wasn’t easy to escape this zone of
calm and then, this morning, things began to accelerate. We’re going to have
to get our skates on to stay with this breeze though! We’re concentrated and
above all happy to be making good speed again. We felt totally powerless as
we waited for this depression system, but we’re going to have to stay with
it now as we’re not particularly far forward in terms of its position. It’s
going to be a race against the clock now with the warm front rather than a
race against Orange 2!” stated the skipper of Groupama 3
As this young depression gets bigger by feeding on the cold polar air as it
traverses the Southern Atlantic, it is moving fairly quickly (around thirty
knots). Franck Cammas and his crew intend to keep just ahead of the cold
front, which is generating steady N’ly winds on fairly small seas. Added to
this, the current disturbance is also set to fill out over the next few days
and will push back the high pressure, which has been stagnating offshore of
Cape Town for several days. Its very straight trajectory is good news for
Groupama 3, however it will drop quite far South, as far as 50° S! At this
time of year, there is still ice around originating in Antarctica, which is
drifting quite high up… As such the crew will have to curve out their course
after going around the Southern edge of this African anticyclone.
An important meeting
“At the moment, Groupama 3 is making close to thirty knots of boat speed
under one reef and solent in beam winds of 17-18 knots, 135° off the true
wind, beneath a grey sky with a few patches of blue and cumulus. However,
the swell is coming at them head on, which is making things bouncy at times…
We’re going to have to try to follow the routing, which has us making very
high speeds. We’re targeting a point quite far to the South in relation to
the Cape of Good Hope, as there’s a zone of high pressure under South
Africa. That will cause us a few problems as regards icebergs, but it’s
highly favourable in terms of wind. The next 24 hours are important for
remaining in a N’ly wind (the ideal point of sail for us), without getting
devoured by what is a pretty violent depression! It will be a completely
straight trajectory with a few manœuvres centred around reducing the sail
area as the wind is likely to increase. From Tuesday onwards we’ll be in the
Roaring Forties…”
After patience comes impatience! Indeed, it’s going to be important that the
depression system doesn’t accelerate too fast leaving Groupama 3 behind the
front: a W’ly shift in the wind wouldn’t be favourable as Franck Cammas and
his men would then be forced into a series of gybes and hence a longer and
slower zigzag course. In a beam wind, the giant trimaran can slip along
effortlessly, without putting the crew under too much pressure. There will
be enough manœuvres to make in the Indian Ocean! As such, if everything
falls into place as forecast, Groupama 3 will once again extend her lead
over the reference time and be able to tackle the Deep South with a very
positive margin of time.
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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