.jpg "Cammas-Groupama on Pinterest")
Having rekindled their relationships with their nearest and dearest, the daily rhythm of their lives has gone up a notch again now. Amidst training sessions on the water and on shore, public relations, briefings and debriefings, meetings with the press and the organisation, their schedule has been very busy. Everything follows on one after the other from 0700 hours in the morning through until the evening, often after dinner.
However, it's important to find some relaxation time in all that prior to the start of the second leg to Abu Dhabi, as twenty-four days at sea in extreme conditions isn't something you can recover from just like that...
As regards the shore...
Since their arrival dockside in Cape Town, the shore team has been working flat out to work on improvements to Groupama 4. Pierre Tissier, head of boat construction: "These past six days have seen us checking the carbon and mechanical structures and we also unstepped the boat's mast, daggerboards and rudders. We also cleaned the hull beneath the waterline and checked over the whole structure. Some slight repairs and modifications have been required to improve life for the sailors onboard. We haven't encountered any problems and Groupama 4 is in tip-top condition then."
The green, orange and white Volvo Open 70 was launched this morning at 0700 UTC, 0900 (South African time). However, there are still a few odd jobs to do. Pierre Tissier: "From tomorrow afternoon, the sailors will be on the water but we still have some work ahead. We have to finish preparing the parts. Every evening we have a debriefing so as to hone Groupama 4 as much as possible until the start of leg 2."
Meantime Puma is set to make Cape Town on Wednesday, whilst Camper and Telefonica have already been relaunched. Team Sanya and Abu Dhabi are still on their cradles and the teams will perform the relaunch tomorrow.
