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2010/02/06-16h49
Upwind delights
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| Jules Verne Trophy 2009 - 2010 |
| After crossing the equator at 0902 hours UTC this Saturday morning after 5 days and 19 hours at sea and with a lead of over
a day in relation to Orange, the maxi trimaran Groupama 3 has begun her descent of the Southern hemisphere. Faced with SE'ly
tradewinds and in a still, fairly calm sea, Franck Cammas and his nine crew are making for the Brazilian coast at an average
of twenty knots.
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 The big glides under gennaker are over. So too are the storm squalls of the Doldrums. The archives for this first intermediary
time between Ushant and the equator have been written now, with the 2010 version of Groupama 3 recording the second fastest
time in maritime history. Her deficit amounted to just 3 hours 44 minutes behind the best ever time, which was set back in
November 2009 by... Groupama 3: "We're certainly very happy with this time as it really wasn't a simple task in prospect
on leaving the Breton coast last Sunday. It's better than we could have anticipated at the start," said Franck Cammas
during the radio link-up with the Paris HQ for the Jules Verne Trophy.
He continues: "Nevertheless, we were
caught out by the Doldrums, which suddenly reawakened on us and proved complicated to negotiate with violent squalls, storms
and lightning. For seven hours the wind was constantly turning and even dropped away completely at one stage. In the middle
of the night it wasn't easy to zigzag between the squalls".
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An uncertain futureBy managing to maintain an average of 22 knots (40 km/hr) since leaving Ushant, Groupama 3 has continued to extend her lead
on the current Jules Verne Trophy holder: 1 day 7 hours and 49 minutes: "The weather forecasts aren't very favourable
for joining up with the Southern Ocean. To avoid the calm conditions, we're going to have to get very close to the Brazilian
coast and drop down very low before we can hang a left towards the Cape of Good Hope. We'll lose a fair number of miles in
relation to Orange but there's still a long way to go. We're going to have to stay very concentrated and be ready to snap
up any opportunity that arises".
On a technical level the skipper of Groupama 3 is confident: "We've
been right around the boat several times but we haven't found anything suspicious. Aside from the radar, which gave up the
ghost for a few hours yesterday but has worked well since, all's well aboard and there are no particular areas of wear. Having
navigated through some pretty mild sea conditions thus far is a good thing as the structure hasn't been very put upon."
As far as the crew are concerned, Franck concludes: "They're still racing flat out. Life aboard is taking
its course amidst an atmosphere of good humour. It really is a fine team. In addition to that we are all clean as we made
the most of the squalls to have a good shower".
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Jules Verne Trophy reference time between Ushant and the equator
2005: Orange 2 (7d 02h 56')
Groupama 3's
time on the section between Ushant - equator
6th February 2010: 5d 19h 07'
Jules Verne Trophy reference
time between Ushant and the Cape of Good Hope
2005: Orange 2 (14d 08h 19')
Best time on the section between
Ushant - Cape of Good Hope
2008: Groupama 3 (13d 08h 47')
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