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2009/12/18-17h33
Controlled reduction in pace
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| Jules Verne Trophy 2009 - 2010 |
| To the North-West of the Cape Verde archipelago, Groupama 3 still has nearly 2,100 miles to go to reach the Breton coast.
Skippered by Fred Le Peutrec the crew are just having to grin and bear it as they're being forced to ease off the pace considerably
in order to let a depression roll over the top of them. The current objective is to cover 700 miles in 48 hours! Given the
ideal conditions and Groupama 3's capacity for speed, this situation is proving to be stiff punishment for the ten competitors
aboard!
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Contacted midway through the day, Fred Le Peutrec explained the situation: "This morning we escaped the calm conditions
associated with the zone of high pressure after spending a night without a puff of air, albeit beneath a fabulous starry sky!
With Groupama 3 we're heading due North in very fine conditions coloured by a few tradewind cumulus! To give you the full
picture, right now we've dramatically eased off the pace!"
Indeed, currently, the Groupama 3 trimaran is
carrying very little sail aloft with one reef in the mainsail and staysail, despite the wind only managing to pump out just
over 10 knots of breeze: "The aim of the operation is to let the first depression roll over the top of us and fade away
over the coast of Portugal. If we were to let ourselves get pushed along by the latter, we would be stuck along the coast
there for several days. The extent of Groupama 3's reduction in pace has been set in such a way as to enable her to hook onto
a second depression coming in from the West, which will lead us straight home!"
Clearly patience is the wisest
option here! "To slow down on a boat like Groupama 3 in such conditions doesn't come easily! This morning I had to negotiate
with the crew a little and clearly explain the objective to them as, with the festive season approaching, everyone's beginning
to get impatient! It hasn't affected the atmosphere onboard though as everyone knows it's best to be patient rather than to
go blindly on and compromise our safe arrival into port! As such things are still summery aboard with everyone in a good humour!"
Groupama
3 is expected into Brittany some time between Sunday and Monday.
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