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2008/02/16 - 09h19
New reference time between Ushant and Tasmania
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| Jules Verne Trophy |
| Goodbye to the Indian, hello to the Pacific! Groupama 3 passed under Tasmania this Saturday at 0443 UT and immediately
gybed to reposition herself under New Zealand. With a lead of over 440 miles...
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Franck Proffit referred to it at the radio session on Friday lunchtime: "We should have three to four days of
being able to slip along nicely! If the swell becomes more ordered, we are likely to be able to sail in excess of 700 miles
a day..." And indeed the very next day, Groupama 3 had devoured 715 miles by 0400 UT, whilst sailing in a thirty
knot W'ly wind, backing to the SW. And it's this left hand wind shift, which prompted Franck Cammas and his crew to reposition
themselves immediately that the longitude of Tasmania was crossed...
The Indian Ocean record defined by the WSSRC
(Cape Agulhas-South of Tasmania) of 9 days 11 hours 4 minutes, remains the property of Orange II by just one hour.
Groupama 3 in fact took 9 days 12 hours 6 minutes to cross this ocean, which has not favoured their progress. However,
this slight separation has enabled the giant trimaran to conserve a good lead over the round the world reference time, since
she was 22 hours and 29 minutes ahead overall at the passage of Tasmania.
And the good news is that Franck Cammas
and his nine crew will continue to make up ground today by holding onto some good pressure, manageable seas, a speed regularly
in excess of thirty knots and above all, a heading which is bending southwards, which will shorten their course around Antarctica.
Furthermore, Orange II wasn't particularly quick in this zone three years ago, with two gybes under the Australian
island and speeds of around 25 knots. These three parameters (speed, SE'ly heading, gybes) should enable Groupama 3
to regain her lead originally amassed during the passage of the Cape of Good Hope, which amounted to over 650 miles...
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