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2007/03/26 - 18h30
Stand-by started in Cadiz for Groupama 3
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| Meticulously following the programme announced, Franck Cammas and his crew are as from today - Monday 26th March - and up
until 23d April, on stand-by in Cadiz, ready to set off on a record attempt on the Columbus Route (Cadiz - San Salvador).
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The ten sailors are now waiting for the most auspicious weather conditions, "the right window" to attack this 3.884-mile
record. Reminder of the time to beat: 9 days 13 hours 30 minutes 18 seconds, a scratch-time held since 24th February 2003
by the American Steve Fossett on the maxi trimaran Playstation.
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A little weatherThe « right window » explained by Jean-Yves Bernot, router of Groupama 3 :"This Columbus Route record is quite complicated
in terms of the weather as we see that it is hard to have the right conditions both for the start and for the finish. For
Groupama, the ideal scenario would be to sail to the Canaries on one tack, where Franck and his team would have to round the
island of Gran Canaria, the only compulsory course mark. Therefore, we are looking for strong North wind conditions, between
25 and 30 knots, to leave Cadiz. A flow which we will try to more or less maintain until we reach the middle of the Atlantic,
to find the trade winds. Reaching the Bahamas often means weaker trade winds on the Antilles side and one has to be extremely
vigilant to not get trapped in these calm areas."
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Management of the boat and the men during these stand-by stagesFranck Proffit, responsible for operations on Groupama 3, explains :"« A colour code system has been set up. During
the stand-by periods the crew don't have to stand around waiting needlessly. Everyone goes home and is prepared according
to the development of these codes. We do our planning and get organised around an open discussion between Jean-Yves Bernot,
our router ashore, Marcel Van Triest, the navigator, Franck Cammas and myself. Every morning, we each look at the day's weather
forecast and then decide on the approach to follow for the day.
These stand-by periods are both the whole problem and
the whole interest of records. One has to be patient and try and find the most interesting window possible to set off. So,
for Groupama 3 we have set our Spanish stand-by between 26th March and 23d April, the cut-off date on which we will deliver
the yacht to Miami.
The crew are all spread out over France, and good communication has to be set up in order that everyone
is present at the time of the start. This is one of the aspects of my work within the project."
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