After a month and a half's wait at its base in Lorient, Groupama 3 is due to set off on its Jules Verne Trophy attempt from
the Créac'h lighthouse off Ushant, late morning on Thursday 24th January. The programme for Franck Cammas and his nine crew:
to reach the equator in six days and complete a circumnavigation in less than fifty days...
"Everything comes to those who wait..." This proverb is very fitting for the crew of Groupama 3 on stand-by
since 6th December 2007. Solely two weather `windows' have presented themselves in the past month and a half and neither of
these were sufficiently striking for the 31.50 metre maxi-trimaran to set off on the 21,600 miles that make up the Jules Verne
Trophy course. The reasons for this are that on this record, held by Orange II since 2005 (50 days 16 hours 20 minutes 4 seconds),
the gain acquired over the first phase of the course is initial proof of success. In this way, the mid range forecast gives
a descent of the Atlantic in six days, which would provide Franck Cammas' crew with a day's bonus on changing hemisphere.
Good sequencing
This Thursday, a zone of rain will sweep across the Breton coast early in the day. These showers will be associated with a
good 25-30 knot NW'ly breeze, quickly backing to the North in the Bay of Biscay. Twelve hours later, at the approach to Cape
Finisterre, there should be thirty knots of NE'ly winds, set to drop to around twenty knots of E'ly off Lisbon. As a result,
this sequence of weather is very favourable, not just in terms of angle in relation to the wind since Groupama 3 is extremely
fast with the wind on the beam (over 30 knots average speed), but above all due to the very manageable sea state (offshore
breeze off Portugal). The only blip on the horizon to date: the passage of the Canaries, as a low out at sea is disrupting
the classic tradewind pattern. Groupama 3's pace could be slowed for half a day at this stage of the course, but it should
then pick up nicely before the Cape Verde islands, with E'ly breezes practically all the way to the Doldrums...
