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2010/02/09-07h54
South-Easterly inflexion ...
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| Jules Verne Trophy 2009 - 2010 |
| Since altering course on Monday evening, Groupama 3 has finally been able to distance herself from the Brazilian coast and
switch onto a more productive course towards the SE. Even though the giant trimaran cannot yet thread her way directly towards
the Cape of Good Hope, the haemorrhage of miles lost in relation to the reference time has been stemmed...
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The sailing conditions are still very pleasant for Franck Cammas and his nine crew and since Groupama 3 turned at around
1500 hours UTC, the weather situation has become favourable again despite a few fleeting drops in pace. Indeed at sunrise
the speed had fallen to around ten knots... However, the N'ly tradewinds have gradually picked up again this Tuesday morning
and the crew are once again racking up average speeds of over twenty-five knots, which is enabling them to put a stop to the
reduction in their lead over Orange 2.
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Parallel coursesForced to traverse the Doldrums at 30° W, Groupama 3 was already positioned over to the West. However, with the Saint Helena
High so close to South America, Franck Cammas and his men were forced to distance themselves still further from the optimum
route to avoid the calm conditions. As regards the mutual trajectories, the giant trimaran is now 300 miles further out to
the West than the Jules Verne Trophy record holder. From now on though, their wakes will converge since the tradewinds will
give way to the W'ly winds from the lows of the Deep South. According to the routing the possibility of plunging down towards
the Indian Ocean on a single tack is scheduled from Thursday morning, at which point Groupama 3 will already be at 35° South...
As a result Franck Cammas and his nine crew can remain confident as, even though they may still lose a few miles
in relation to Orange 2 over the next 36 hours, their average speed should be enough to hold onto their lead when they enter
the Roaring Forties. Nearly 400 miles ahead of the reference time, Groupama 3 is currently sailing faster than her predecessor,
who only managed to clock high average speeds once she had begun to hang a left off Rio de Janeiro...
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