Jules Verne Trophy 2010 Franck Cammas/Groupama 3 www.cammas-groupama.com -Übersicht 18.03.2010 Time to beat: 50 days 16 hours 20 minutes and 4 seconds Groupama The pendulum effect In the disturbed air flow stretching right across the Atlantic, Groupama 3 is continuing her rapid progress towards the finish line and has substantially increased her lead over the reference time. Her arrival off the Créac'h lighthouse is still scheduled for Saturday, but the ETA remains open for the whole of Saturday as the low pressure area could slow down the giant trimaran. Positionsvergleich am 18.03.2010 Quelle: www.cammas-groupama.com Though the weather window for the departure was narrow, the doors to the finish are now wide open! However, 1,500 miles from Ushant, Franck Cammas and his men are not yet done with the changing conditions: by having to approach the centre of low pressure which is currently pushing the giant trimaran along, the wind will become more unstable and is likely to switch suddenly from the SW to the NW. The wind will also strengthen to over thirty knots with gusts in the squalls and as such the crew will have a number of manoeuvres to perform before they enter the Bay of Biscay. "There are short seas and the wind is not very stable so we’re not slipping along quite as smoothly as all that. The sky is very clear though, unlike yesterday. On Wednesday night, we had it all: the wind went from six to thirty knots and on top of that we had torrential rain. Since we went through the front, everything has gone much better, with the both the wind and sea conditions both improved. However both will get messier as we get closer to the centre of the low pressure" indicated Franck Cammas during the 1130 UTC videoconference at Groupama’s Race HQ in Paris in the presence of culinary presenter Jean-Luc Petitrenaud. Front sails… After 46 days at sea, the crew is starting to get impatient and although the distance between the land and the sailors has come down to a few large surfs, it was clear during the video conference with Franck Cammas that the crew was eager to return to their families ... and to normal food! "We're going to have a good steak because dried food looks more like dog food! Eating is not a delight every day: fortunately we’ve got fish dishes and sauces prepared by Philippe Rochat to give us a bit of flavour... We are still sailing too fast to fish and we have only raised a small flying fish out of this world tour, which was so small that we returned it to the sea." The arrival meal will still have to wait until Saturday though as, by then, the crew will have to be fit and ready for the tough, but also irregular final stretch: the front will force the men to reduce the sail and during such nights with almost no moon, navigation is always a bit stressful, especially when they have to manoeuvre. We shouldn’t forget that the shipping will intensify as they close on Cape Finisterre and the sea state will deteriorate as they hit the continental shelf. And front swells… "We'll have a rough night ahead as it is always difficult to skirt close to a low pressure centre: the wind is very irregular and the sea becomes chaotic as the waves mix with the powerful W’ly swell! These phases are unpleasant and risky for the equipment and we still have a rather tricky 24 hours ahead of us... We'll have to navigate carefully but quickly because we must not be overtaken by the low pressure or we may have to negotiate even more difficult conditions! We don’t think twice about lending the guys on watch a hand for the manoeuvres and sail changes so as to avoid fatigue and constantly adapt to the changing wind." Groupama's Race HQ has this Thursday evening moved to Brest to prepare for the arrival of the giant trimaran which should make the Brittany coast on Saturday. Once this low pressure area has rolled over tonight the ETA (estimated time of arrival) can be refined to one or two hours. However, so far, the possible arrival time lies between 0700 and 1900 UTC, depending on the sea state and the regularity of the wind. Indeed, though the Jules Verne Trophy clock is ticking, the yo-yo effect of the weather could have an influence! 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): 247 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 = 376 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): 751 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 = 60 miles) Day 24 (24th February 1400 UTC): 638 miles (lead = 208 miles) Day 25 (25th February 1400 UTC): 712 miles (lead = 371 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): 461 miles (lead = 58 miles) Day 35 (7th March 1400 UTC): 382 miles (deficit = 100 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): 503 miles (deficit = 483 miles) Day 42 (14th March 1400 UTC): 445 miles (deficit = 403 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): 579 miles (lead = 828 miles) Jules Verne Trophy record Orange 2 (2005): 50d 16h 20' Find all the latest about the Groupama trimarans on: www.cammas-groupama.com Translated by Kate Jennings – Expression Copyright © 1996-2011 - SEGEL.DE