Friday 5th February – Press release
JULES VERNE TROPHY
(CREWED ROUND THE WORLD VIA THE THREE CAPES)
Time to beat: 50 days 16 hours 20 minutes and 4 seconds
Groupama
Around the Doldrums
Franck Cammas and his nine crew have had an excellent day prior to a weekend
where a rather quick passage across the Doldrums is forecast, with a switch
of hemisphere as early as Saturday morning! With an average of more than 22
knots along the direct course since leaving Ushant, Groupama 3 already has
more than a day’s lead over the reference time…
There is a certain sense of serenity aboard the giant trimaran: with each
radio session hosted by one of the ten men on Groupama 3, it’s another point
of view which testifies to the excellent atmosphere that reigns over this
third attempt… This time, it’s Jacques Caraës, bowman and cameraman, who
shares his delight at being at sea, flying along at an average of nearly
thirty knots in the tradewinds, to the South of the Cape Verde archipelago.
“We still have good pressure and the breeze has veered round to the East a
little: this Friday lunchtime we’re under full mainsail and solent jib, but
we’re still making very good headway at an average of thirty knots. We’re
now picking our way due South and things are calmer with the genoa: we’re
just using the pilot to helm but the trimmers are on the sheets as there’s a
big gust from time to time. The seas are very ordered and the skies are a
little overcast…” indicated Jacques Caraës at the lunchtime radio session
with Groupama’s Race HQ in Paris.
On target…
“We did well to take this window, even though the Southern Atlantic doesn’t
look to be very organised to date. It’s a sport where nature guides the
days, despite the high-tech equipment and the men: the weather parameter is
essential and the boat is absolutely magical… You really couldn’t tire of
it! For this attempt, the crew has already sailed a lot of miles together on
this trimaran: there’s a superb cohesion and an extraordinary atmosphere.
This attempt is likely to be the one and if nature is opening its doors to
us it’s because we now know Groupama 3 like the back of our hand…”
Jacques Caraës couldn’t recall the number of times he’s traversed the
Doldrums (at least a dozen times!) and recognised that he’d never had the
same weather conditions twice! “It’s always different… I’ve experienced some
violent, peaceful, long and short trips, but with Groupama 3, we’ve passed
through very quickly each time. During the delivery from Cape Town in
Lorient this winter, we didn’t even get a glimpse of it! This time it’s
shaping up to be very good again because we’re positioned quite far West…”
… for the Doldrums
The point of entry is already well defined: they’re tackling the Doldrums at
4° North, between 29° and 30° West, and it should only stretch across 80
miles. This would enable a fairly short and rather moderate reduction in
pace before hitting the SE’ly tradewinds to cross the equator. In fact, it
is looking increasingly likely that the crew will switch hemispheres as
early as Saturday morning! If this is the case it will have taken them less
than six days, which would be the second best time on this round the world
course…
It remains that the weather situation isn’t yet very stable off the
Brazilian coast however. Dropping due South is one thing, but hanging a left
to get to the Cape of Good Hope as quickly as possible is another! For the
time being the high pressure is barring the shortest route so Groupama 3 may
well have to take a big detour if the situation doesn’t evolve quickly.
“The Saint Helena High is taking up quite a vast amount of space over the
Southern Atlantic! Things are going to get tougher for us in the descent
towards the Roaring Forties, however in principle we can get as far as Cape
Town without too much of a deficit on the reference time. It’s the entry
into the Indian Ocean which is always a fairly brutal moment of transition!”
Groupama 3’s log (departure on 31st January at 13h 55’ 53’’ UTC)
Day 1 (1st February 1400 UTC): 500 miles (deficit = 94 miles)
Day 2 (2nd February 1400 UTC): 560 miles (lead = 3.5 miles)
Day 3 (3rd February 1400 UTC): 535 miles (lead = 170 miles)
Day 4 (4th February 1400 UTC): 565 miles (lead = 245 miles)
Day 5 (5th February 1400 UTC): 656 miles (lead = 562 miles)
Best passage time to the equator from Ushant
Groupama 3: 5d 15h 23’ (November 2009)
Jules Verne Trophy reference time to the equator
Orange 2: 7d 02h 56’ (January 2005)
The crew aboard Groupama 3:
* Franck Cammas, Loïc Le Mignon, Jacques Caraës, Stève Ravussin,
Thomas Coville, Bruno Jeanjean, Fred Le Peutrec, Lionel Lemonchois, Ronan Le
Goff.
* Stan Honey, navigator, off watch
Find all the latest about the Groupama trimarans on:
www.cammas-groupama.com
Translated by Kate Jennings – Expression
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