How have you felt since your departure from Cadiz last April?
"It's hard to know if we have progressed without having anything to measure our performance against, but we have discovered
more and more about Groupama 3 each day. Going so fast over 24 hours is a good way of getting to know your boat! Right now
I'm fairly relaxed about the next stage and particularly about the circumnavigation: we have really worked the boat hard which
is something we won't be doing during the Jules Verne Trophy. There is less uncertainty and more knowledge, both about the
boat and the men: I'm going to set out confidently."
How do you think the trimaran will behave in the Southern Seas?
"We've been able to analyse Groupama 3's behaviour in a fair amount of conditions with this season's records and the only
question concerns the Deep South with a big following sea: what will happen when the three bows bury in? The South is very
special and different from the seas you experience in the Atlantic as the waves can shelve off very abruptly. Up till now
we have always been in control of the situation."
What are Groupama 3's assets in the Jules Verne Trophy?
"In relation to the competition Groupama 3 is lower in the water but when you look at other boats, which have done a circumnavigation
single-handed like that of Ellen MacArthur or Francis Joyon, we know we can do the Trophy: you just have to know when to ease
off the pace... Groupama 3's strong points are its relative lightness, which makes the descent under gennaker easier (North
Atlantic), its trimaran design, which favours the transition phases (Doldrums), its capacity to sail upwind (climb up the
Brazilian coast) and its performance on a reach thanks to its beam (raised 24 hour averages). As a result we'll be able to
save a few hours or even a few days in the descent and ascent of the Atlantic..."
