Sturmvideo
04.12.2009
JULES VERNE TROPHY
(CREWED ROUND THE WORLD VIA THE THREE CAPES)
Time to beat: 50 days 16 hours 20 minutes and 4 seconds
Broken generator causes Groupama 3 to delay her departure from Cape Town
Whilst she was set to leave South Africa this Friday morning, the Groupama 3
trimaran has now been forced to remain in the port of Cape Town temporarily
after her generator failed.
“We were in the process of charging the batteries one last time when, all of
a sudden, the alarm sounded in the engine compartment. After a thorough
check by Yann Mérour, it has been deemed to be out of service. It’s annoying
as we should already be at sea by now but that’s just the way it is” says
Fred Le Peutrec. He continues: “It’s better that this problem occurred now
rather than after we’d set sail because, without power, we can’t desalinate
the seawater. As a result we would have been forced to make a stopover,
which is never simple in such a large boat”.
Around the basin where Groupama 3 is tied up, cameras from all around the
world are trained on the drawing of lots for the World Cup football
tournament. However, the main focus for the Groupama Team is arranging a new
Yanmar engine block to be sent down from France: “We’ve found an identical
one to ours, which is a positive step. We just have to get it delivered to
Cape Town, which isn’t easy. If everything goes smoothly at customs, we
should receive the block on Sunday evening, assemble everything onto it on
Monday and then head out to sea on Tuesday” explains Fred Le Peutrec.
Though it may seem surprising that a yacht is stuck in port with engine
failure, it is worth pointing out that, without power, Groupama 3 is
deprived of:
- Communication with land
- Weather information
- Lights and radar
- Electronic instruments showing the strength and direction of the
wind
- Freshwater, which is essential for hydrating the crew and the
freeze-dried food.
And even though Groupama 3 has a wind generator and solar panels, they are
only back-up energy sources and hence not sufficient to cover the 6,000
miles (11,200 km) under satisfactory conditions of safety: “From our arrival
in Cape Town, we decided that Groupama 3 had to leave South Africa in as
close to perfect condition as possible in order to validate all the repair
work on the return delivery trip. The same is true for the engine” adds Fred
Le Peutrec, who concludes: “By leaving Cape Town on 8th December, we still
have a chance of making Brest before the Christmas festivity. Indeed this is
the latest challenge we have set ourselves as, together with the start of
stand-by for the Jules Verne Trophy remaining set at 1st January, there will
be little time left to share with our families”.
The organisation of Groupama 3’s crew between Cape Town and Brest:
Watch No.1: Fred Le Peutrec, Eric Lamy, Nick Legatt
Watch No.2: Lionel Lemonchois, Ludovic Aglaor, Clément Surtel
Watch No.3: Ronan Le Goff, Thierry Duprey du Vordent, Jacques Caraës
Off-watch navigator: François Salabert
Land-based weather adviser: Sylvain Mondon
Find all the latest about the Groupama trimarans on:
www.cammas-groupama.com
Translated by Kate Jennings – Expression
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