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Press release of the 2010/03/212010/03/21 - 11h44
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Day-to-day on the round the world
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| Jules Verne Trophy |
| Franck Cammas and his nine crew are the seventh team to win the Jules Verne Trophy which began in 1993! However, Groupama
3's circumnavigation of the globe in 48 days 07 hours 44 minutes 52 seconds was very distinctive in that she was only able
to make headway in fits and starts and didn't really open up an extensive lead until after she'd crossed the equator a second
time, 2,500 miles from the finish!
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Indeed it wasn't the most favourable weather window for setting off on the Jules Verne Trophy, but skipper Franck Cammas,
navigator Stan Honey and onshore router Sylvain Mondon nevertheless decided to set off with Brittany in the grips of winter.
After her second failed attempt in November 2009 and a return to Lorient to reinforce Groupama 3's structure, the stand-by
period was drawing to a close: a gap in the weather, albeit it narrow, was enough to inspire them to go for the record...
The Bay of Biscay was peaceful, too peaceful even, and the first goal was to get round Cape Finisterre safely and then decide
whether to persevere or throw in the towel.
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Equator: 1d 02h 04' deficitIt's a long old slog to make headway in the South Atlantic! The ascent begins with some close-hauled sailing whilst Bruno
Peyron and his crew enjoyed downwind conditions as far as Brazil in 2005. Next on the menu, the stormy front causes the wind
to shift round to the N, right on their nose. Thanks to a beat in a narrow corridor of breeze between two windless zones,
Groupama 3 comes off pretty well as she's been designed for these variable, light airs, but there's a haemorrhage of miles
all the same! The result is a deficit of over 500 miles but there are still 4,000 miles to make up the 12% deficit for the
17% of the remaining course around the world. The penalty is severe as they switch hemispheres: 41d 21h 09' on crossing the
equator a second time...
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Agulhas Cape: 7h 30' deficitThe SE'ly tradewinds are very much in evidence offshore of Brazil and Groupama 3 opts for a trajectory fairly close to the
coast to avoid the Saint Helena High. The situation becomes more complicated as from the latitude of Rio de Janeiro, Franck
Cammas and his men have to wait for the wind to shift before it dies out completely... After eleven days at sea, the whole
of their lead over the reference time has melted away! In fact the giant trimaran is awaiting the arrival of a Brazilian low
so they can get going again at speed. However, the breeze only really becomes established once they're into the Roaring Forties.
At that point they make an extremely fast comeback at an average of over thirty knots for two days, until such time as Groupama
3 stumbles into a front which brakes her momentum. 14d 15h 48': the passage of the longitude of the Agulhas Cape heralds the
start of two difficult days before they can hook onto the next low...
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South Tasmania: 9h 56' leadWhilst Bruno Peyron and his crew had to perform a series of gybes in the Indian Ocean, Franck Cammas and his men manage to
make headway along the southern edge of a large anticyclone for several days. The average speeds are staggering and despite
a very northern trajectory along 45°S, Groupama 3 comes back on the reference time like a bullet: in the space of five days,
she makes up over 550 miles and passes ahead of Orange 2 at the entrance to the Pacific Ocean. 23d 09h 27': the passage to
the South of Tasmania precedes further happy days (albeit wet)...
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Cape Horn: 8h 55' leadThe crew of Groupama 3 are able to make out the first land since leaving Ushant 25 days earlier: they skirt round the island
of Auckland and are able to dive down into the Deep South. The trajectory is highly favourable as far as 55°S and the downwind
conditions colour proceedings. However, the arrival of a nasty Australian low puts a new light on matters: it is necessary
to modify the strategy and climb up to 50°S, then further still to 47° S to avoid the worst of the gale and most importantly
the heavy and badly organised seas. Despite the fact that the giant trimaran is able to power along at an average of over
thirty knots, the extra miles they need to cover causes their lead to shrink to 200 miles (from a previous advantage of 500
miles). However, Franck Cammas and his men are finally able to plunge down towards the Hard Cape at that stage. In Drake's
Passage, the downwind breeze dies, the wind even shifting round to the NE, forcing the crew to put in a tack change but also
enabling them to get a glimpse of the lighthouse at the end of the world. 32d 04h 34': the multihull isn't very far ahead
of the reference time, but the crew is able to chat with the lighthouse keepers at Cape Horn...
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Ushant: 2d 08h 35' leadFortunately the North Atlantic is shaping up to be more favourable. As was the case during the descent a month earlier, Groupama
3 finds her way into some established tradewinds and then manages to avoid getting hemmed in by a zone of high pressure offshore
of the Cape Verde archipelago. As such she can finally bend her course towards the Bay of Biscay from the latitude of the
Canaries. Bruno Peyron and his crew didn't score well over this section of the course five years earlier, which is just as
well! It isn't until the 46th day at sea that Franck Cammas and his nine crew get ahead of the reference time again... The
next three days are fast in a disturbed air flow and the giant trimaran's lead continues to increase as they make for Ushant,
finally stretching to nearly 1,500 miles as they cross the finish line.
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From one Jules Verne to anotherUltimately Groupama 3 completed her circumnavigation of the globe with a deficit in relation to the reference time over a
22 day period and a lead over Orange 2 for 26 days. However, this distribution isn't consistent since the separation continued
to yo-yo throughout the Jules Verne Trophy, with a whole series of highs and lows. According to the 1400 UTC position reports
(corresponding with their start time from Ushant on 31st January 2010), the giant trimaran had a 94 mile deficit on the 1st
day, a 620 mile lead on the 6th day, a deficit of 433 miles on the 18th day, a 560 mile lead on the 27th day, a deficit of
492 miles on the 41st day, rounding off with a 1,492 mile lead on her arrival in Ushant!
This stop-start progress
is a first in relation to all the previous victorious Jules Verne Trophy campaigns as every one of the attempts vying for
the record since Bruno Peyron's successful attempt in 1993, have always been ahead all the way to the finish on rounding the
Cape of Good Hope, or even Cape Leeuwin, with the exception of Olivier de Kersauson in 2004, who had to wait until they reached
the International Date Line... The record set by Groupama 3 this 21st March 2010 has thus improved on the previous reference
time by 4%! However, by adding together the best times over the six sections of the round the world during recent attempts
of the 24,375 mile course (of which Groupama 3 holds four reference times: Ushant-Equator in November 2009, Equator-Agulhas
in January 2008, Agulhas Cape-Cape Leeuwin in February 2010 and Equator-Ushant in March 2010), a circumnavigation of the globe
in 45 days is feasible. However, that's another story: Franck Cammas and his men haven't scheduled a second circumnavigation...
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Equator: a lead of 1d 07h 49'In fact this first `course mark' proved tricky to negotiate: the moderate NW'ly wind on leaving Ushant on 31st January at
13h 55' 53'' UTC increased overnight and then eased as they approached the Spanish coast, shifting across to the E with the
arrival of a windless zone... Fortunately Groupama 3 managed to slip past before the calm spell and was into the Portuguese
tradewinds to celebrate Lionel Lemonchois' fiftieth birthday offshore of Madeira! They were very much on track again then
and the pace could only pick up once they gybed to the W of the Canaries. However, there was another obstacle to negotiate
before rounding the Cape Verde archipelago, with a depression centre compelling them to perform several gybes. Once past this
zone, the descent towards the equator proved very fast in the moderate NE'ly tradewinds and a rather inactive Doldrums at
2° N. 5d 19h 07': it's the second best passage time from Ushant to the equator...
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The Jules Verne Trophy1993: Commodore Explorer (FRA), 25m catamaran (Bruno Peyron) = 79d 06h 16'
1994: Enza New Zealand
(NZL), 26m catamaran (Peter Blake & Robin Knox-Johnston) = 74d 22h 17'
1997: Sport Elec (FRA), 27m trimaran
(Olivier de Kersauson) = 71d 14h 22'
2002: Orange (FRA), 33m catamaran (Bruno Peyron) = 64d 08h 37'
2004:
Geronimo (FRA), 34m trimaran (Olivier de Kersauson) = 63d 13h 59'
2005: Orange 2 (FRA), 37m catamaran (Bruno
Peyron) = 50d 16h 20'
2010: Groupama 3 (FRA), 32m trimaran (Franck Cammas) = 48d 07h 45'
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Groupama 3's log (departure on 31st January at 13h 55' 53'' UTC)(Number of miles covered in relation to the optimum course for the Jules Verne Trophy)
Day 1 (1st February 1400
UTC): 500 miles (deficit = 94 miles)
Day 2 (2nd February 1400 UTC): 560 miles (lead = 3.5 miles)
Day 3 (3rd February
1400 UTC): 535 miles (lead = 170 miles)
Day 4 (4th February 1400 UTC): 565 miles (lead = 245 miles)
Day 5 (5th February
1400 UTC): 656 miles (lead = 562 miles)
Day 6 (6th February 1400 UTC): 456 miles (lead = 620 miles)
Day 7 (7th February
1400 UTC): 430 miles (lead = 539 miles)
Day 8 (8th February 1400 UTC): 305 miles (lead = 456 miles)
Day 9 (9th February
1400 UTC): 436 miles (lead = 393 miles)
Day 10 (10th February 1400 UTC): 355 miles (lead = 272 miles)
Day 11 (11th
February 1400 UTC): 267 miles (deficit = 30 miles)
Day 12 (12th February 1400 UTC): 274 miles (deficit = 385 miles)
Day
13 (13th February 1400 UTC): 719 miles (deficit = 347 miles)
Day 14 (14th February 1400 UTC): 680 miles (deficit = 288
miles)
Day 15 (15th February 1400 UTC): 651 miles (deficit = 203 miles)
Day 16 (16th February 1400 UTC): 322 miles
(deficit = 375 miles)
Day 17 (17th February 1400 UTC): 425 miles (deficit = 338 miles)
Day 18 (18th February 1400
UTC): 362 miles (deficit = 433 miles)
Day 19 (19th February 1400 UTC): 726 miles (deficit = 234 miles)
Day 20 (20th
February 1400 UTC): 672 miles (deficit = 211 miles)
Day 21 (21st February 1400 UTC): 584 miles (deficit = 124 miles)
Day
22 (22nd February 1400 UTC): 607 miles (deficit = 137 miles)
Day 23 (23rd February 1400 UTC): 702 miles (lead = 52 miles)
Day
24 (24th February 1400 UTC): 638 miles (lead = 208 miles)
Day 25 (25th February 1400 UTC): 713 miles (lead = 370 miles)
Day
26 (26th February 1400 UTC): 687 miles (lead = 430 miles)
Day 27 (27th February 1400 UTC): 797 miles (lead = 560 miles)
Day
28 (28th February 1400 UTC): 560 miles (lead = 517 miles)
Day 29 (1st March 1400 UTC): 434 miles (lead = 268 miles)
Day
30 (2nd March 1400 UTC): 575 miles (lead = 184 miles)
Day 31 (3rd March 1400 UTC): 617 miles (lead = 291 miles)
Day
32 (4th March 1400 UTC): 492 miles (lead = 248 miles)
Day 33 (5th March 1400 UTC): 445 miles (lead = 150 miles)
Day
34 (6th March 1400 UTC): 464 miles (lead = 62 miles)
Day 35 (7th March 1400 UTC): 389 miles (deficit = 91 miles)
Day
36 (8th March 1400 UTC): 317 miles (deficit = 326 miles)
Day 37 (9th March 1400 UTC): 506 miles (deficit = 331 miles)
Day
38 (10th March 1400 UTC): 321 miles (deficit = 384 miles)
Day 39 (11th March 1400 UTC): 255 miles (deficit = 309 miles)
Day
40 (12th March 1400 UTC): 288 miles (deficit = 473 miles)
Day 41 (13th March 1400 UTC): 496 miles (deficit = 492 miles)
Day
42 (14th March 1400 UTC): 445 miles (deficit = 405 miles)
Day 43 (15th March 1400 UTC): 482 miles (deficit = 216 miles)
Day
44 (16th March 1400 UTC): 401 miles (lead = 72 miles)
Day 45 (17th March 1400 UTC): 441 miles (lead = 412 miles)
Day
46 (18th March 1400 UTC): 583 miles (lead = 844 miles)
Day 47 (19th March 1400 UTC): 588 miles (lead = 1,165 miles)
Day
48 (20th March 1400 UTC): 600 miles (lead = 1,412 miles)
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