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2009/11/08-17h34
708 miles in 24 hours
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| Jules Verne Trophy 2009 - 2010 |
| In a single day, Groupama 3 has succeeded not only in making up yesterday's deficit on the reference time, but also gaining
almost a day on the course adopted by Bruno Peyron in 2005! It's been an excellent weekend for all Franck Cammas' crew with
over 700 miles covered over the past 24 hours.
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First of all, Stan Honey is a lot better. Groupama 3's navigator has been taken in hand by the crew and thanks
to dried Swiss meat and a highly favourable weather situation, the American has been able to get on with his work at the chart
table in the best possible conditions. The trimaran is also on a favourable course for tackling the Doldrums from Monday evening...
In fact, this is the latest objective for Franck Cammas' crew, who haven't had as easy a day as all that despite the supersonic
speeds this Sunday: the trimaran has managed to rack up nearly 708 miles in 24 hours!
"Stan is resting, but fortunately
he's feeling a lot better. I think it was partly due to the exhaust fumes from the engine but he also has a problem with one
ear: he's taken some Swiss potions and he's doing well..." indicated Stève Ravussin at the midday radio link-up this
Sunday.
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Point of contactSince gybing on Saturday evening, Groupama 3 has been able to trace a straight course towards the S-SE at a regular speed,
pushed along by tradewinds varying in strength between 22 and 35 knots beneath the squalls. These weather conditions necessitated
a lot of effort from the crew who constantly had to adapt the sail area to make good speed in safety: "it's very wet
but it's nice! Nevertheless, we did have to carry out a fair number of manoeuvres last night with squalls and gusts up to
36 knots... Added to that the short seas made for an exciting ride: we went down to two reefs in the mainsail and Solent!
We clocked up some top speeds of 42 knots, but it wasn't our aim to go very fast; our main focus is making good headway..."
confirmed the watch leader.
In fact, the trajectory is very pure with a course of 210° enabling them to retain some
distance from the Cape Verde archipelago so as not to suffer from the wind shadow caused by these volcanic islands. Sylvain
Mondon from Météo France has explained that the tradewinds are much in evidence as far as 20° North and that the trimaran's
trajectory is likely to bend southwards slightly once they're around the archipelago. On the approach to the Doldrums, the
NE'ly wind is set to ease and the difficulty for the skipper, the navigator and the onshore router lies in correctly defining
the optimum zone for traversing this magma of shifty winds... Logically, a way through is likely to be located between 24°
and 27° West, but from Monday morning the crew are going to need to choose the exact point of contact as any change of course
in the light airs can be highly disadvantageous...
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Upside downAfter three days at sea Groupama 3, which had racked up a deficit on the Jules Verne reference time of some 115 miles at most,
has turned the whole situation around! Since gybing off Madeira on Saturday after two days' sailing, the crew have been devouring
the miles and it's with a lead of nearly a day that the trimaran is now tackling Cape Verde... It should be highlighted that
Orange 2 didn't have a very good day as they exited the Canaries and they even strayed off course in the Cape Verde archipelago
the following day. As such, Franck Cammas and his nine crew had a lead of over 270 miles this Sunday afternoon in relation
to Bruno Peyron's course in 2005; that is a margin of nearly a day! For Monday, it is highly likely that they will be
ahead by a day and a half, so at this rate, the equator may well be crossed in less than six days this coming Wednesday...
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