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2010/07/19-19h52
Cammas qualifies for the Route du Rhum La Banque Postale aboard Groupama 3
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| Groupama 3 |
| After setting out from Lorient, Groupama 3's port of registry, on Wednesday 7th July, to perform the qualifier for the Route
du Rhum, Franck Cammas made it back to port on the evening of Sunday 11th.
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With 1,500 miles (2,700 km) to cover in order to satisfy the requirements for the most popular of all solo transatlantic races,
the skipper of Groupama 3 certainly had enough time to test the quality of the preparation of his trimaran, as well as his
ability to adapt to single-handed sailing: "During the four days at sea, I didn't have to deal with any gales. However,
I did have to put in a lot of manoeuvres as the wind was very shifty".
Questioned about his ability to singlehandedly
manoeuvre a boat designed for 10 crew, Franck deemed himself to be pleasantly surprised: "Certain manoeuvres like
gybing or furling in the gennaker are very physical and above all very long. As such you always have to correctly anticipate
how things are going to pan out so as you don't end up in a tight corner, especially when the wind picks up".
On
the deck, which has been greatly revised since the boat's victory in the Jules Verne Trophy, the skipper of Groupama 3 is
now able to operate the winches using the strength of his legs when his arms are burning from the effort: "the bicycle
idea isn't entirely novel as it's already been used on the America's Cup boats some thirty or so years ago. Aboard Groupama
3, the bike enabled me to alternate between working the arms and working the legs. As a result I lose less time during manoeuvres".
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 As regards his ease with sailing in solo configuration, Franck is very positive: "Groupama 3 is a lot more stable under
automatic pilot than Groupama 1 and 2 ever were. I'm finally going to be able to concentrate on other things besides helming.
Added to that I managed to sustain some much higher average speeds. It's very encouraging for the Rhum as the competition
is going to be very high with Thomas Coville, Francis Joyon and Yann Guichard. Sidney Gavignet's another figure who has experience
of big boats too".
With his next sea trials aboard the maxi trimaran scheduled for September, the Groupama
skipper, who recently won the Jules Verne Trophy, will take a few days off. The physical workout will continue on Saturday
24th July when he lines up for the start of the Coeur stage, on the sidelines of the Cycle Tour de France between Bordeaux
and Pauillac. This event will be of benefit to the charity "Mécénat Chirurgie Cardiaque" (Heart Surgery Sponsorship).
Franck will confront other sailors there like Thomas Coville and Charles Caudrelier, as well as top French journalists Gérard
Holtz and Patrick Poivre d'Arvor.
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