On Wednesday 12th December, Groupama 3 left its home port of Lorient, NW France for a 24 hour training session. The crew was
complete for the first time, the boat laden... and this last 'full scale' rehearsal was set to enable Franck Cammas and his
nine men to validate their steed for the umpteenth time prior to departing on the Jules Verne Trophy. Returning alongside
the next day, the crew proceeded with the inspection of the foils* - curved, adjustable appendages situated in the centre
of the float and enabling, at high speed, to take the pressure off the leeward hull and thus increase the performance of the
maxi trimaran. Unfortunately some of outer lamininate had become detached, which affects Groupama 3's standby, the latter
in operation since 6th December.
The skipper of the Groupama trimarans, looks at the foil issues that Groupama 3 is currently experiencing: "On Thursday
morning, on returning from our training session, we observed some detachment of the outer laminate of the starboard foil.
After a close inspection of the port foil, we were forced to admit that this problem with the materials was also valid for
the second foil. In this event, the way it was put together is not in question, as what we are faced with a fault in the adhesion
of the materials used" specified Franck before adding: "Since our return from sailing on Thursday, the teams
have been working flat out to refabricate the outer skin of both foils, but this work will require a week in the workshop."
This technical hitch changes the plans of Groupama 3's weather cell, composed of Franck Cammas, Franck Proffit,
Yves Parlier and Sylvain Mondon. Indeed, for several days the four men have been working on a gap in the weather, which would
have enabled the 31.50 m giant to set off on the assault of the Jules Verne Trophy on Tuesday. "These technical
problems are preventing us from taking a good weather window, which is shaping up off Brittany next Tuesday. We have two solutions:
carry out makeshift repairs and take this window or, refabricate the foils as they should be for a Round the World in less
than 50 days and forget this particular gap in the weather. We've gone for the second scenario as the foils are really crucial
parts of Groupama 3 and we have to be at 100 % to stand any chance of beating Orange 2's record" concluded Franck
Cammas.
As usual, the Groupama team has made its choices guided by the wisdom and marine sense, which has characterised
this project since its genesis.
* It should be remembered that Groupama 3 is the first maxi multihull equipped
with foils that is set to venture into the Southern Ocean. This is an innovation largely inspired by the Orma multihulls.
The weather window on Tuesday 18th December viewed by Sylvain Mondon
"It's an interesting but tricky gap in the weather. The first night should, indeed, provide difficult conditions, with
confused seas and a lot of wind. Then, for the time being, there is still a transition zone to be negotiated off the Canaries
with a ridge of high pressure to be crossed between the Spanish archipelago and the island of Cape Verde. However, this window
provides a rapid descent towards the equator as we can observe a lack of Doldrums and, in theory, this gap may enable the
boat to reach 5° South in 5 and a half days..."
