Friday 5th March – Press release
JULES VERNE TROPHY
(CREWED ROUND THE WORLD VIA THE THREE CAPES)
Time to beat: 50 days 16 hours 20 minutes and 4 seconds
Groupama
Service is resumed
With Cape Horn astern, Groupama 3 is now traversing some very different
weather conditions: the downwind breeze has given way to headwinds, but the
giant trimaran is managing to maintain her lead. However, Franck Cammas and
his men know only too well that the finish line off Ushant is still 6,800
miles away…
Groupama 3 rounded Cape Horn a long way offshore last night, at 1830 UTC on
Thursday 4th March. However, one hour later, a NE’ly rotation of a lighter
wind inspired Franck Cammas and his nine crew to change tack and follow the
longitude of the most S’ly rock in America, before switching back on course
towards Ushant and hence right to the foot of Cape Horn. The crew were then
able to immortalise this high point in their round the world with a photo
session as the sun dropped over the horizon…
“Last night, things were pretty light as we approached Cape Horn, which is
rather unusual in this part of the world! We even came close to rounding it
three times… In the end we found ourselves at the very foot of the rock,
which was superb. Since then we’ve been able to put the pedal to the metal
again on very pleasant, flat seas. In addition the wind has shifted round to
the NW so we’re reaching on a favourable tack. The three new cape horners
(Bruno, Steve and myself) were very happy because we were allowed a piece of
chocolate… The cape is pretty high and more imposing than on the photos! It
makes you want to return here and cruise around the channels of Patagonia”
indicated Franck Cammas at the 1130 UTC radio link-up with Groupama’s Race
HQ in Paris.
The midnight delight of the lighthouse keeper
Since Auckland Island to the South of New Zealand, Franck Cammas and his
cape horners hadn’t seen land, let alone other boats or a voice on the VHF
radio…
“Ronan had a chat in Portuguese with the lighthouse keeper at Cape Horn: he
told him that we’d come from Brest, but when he said we were going back to
Brest as well the guy didn’t really understand!” As such it was actually
shortly before midnight UTC that Groupama 3 truly entered the Atlantic
Ocean: “It’s a very big cliff! However, we’re happy to have got past it
after fourteen days in strong winds and difficult seas. Even though it was
superb to sail through such beautiful seven metre high Pacific waves, it’s
rather like a kind of deliverance now after the high speeds we had to
maintain. The pressure’s eased! We’re going to open a bottle at the Bar des
Sports this evening…” adds Steve Ravussin.
As regards the third new cape horner of the day, Bruno Jeanjean was also
enthusiastic about having rounded the famous Horn: “It’s an important
passage in a sailor’s life! Conditions were ideal for enabling us to see it
up close: it’s the final boundary of the Southern Ocean. It will also make
the last third of this round the world course very tactical because we
didn’t have much of a lead on rounding the rock. We haven’t taken any risks
up till now and we’ve been lucky to have some fairly cooperative weather
conditions. Right now we’re really going to have to show what we’re made of
in terms of our skills, our manœuvres, our time at the helm and our
decisions at the chart table! It’s going to be complicated and it’s
certainly going to be a close call at the finish, but it’s going to spice up
this ascent of the Atlantic.”
Pressure, decompression, expression
The wind is set to remain stable over the coming hours as well as being
moderate, which is a change from the lows of the Pacific. The seas are no
longer heavy, the sun is out, the waves are no longer drenching the helmsman
and the crew has made the most of the situation to open the hatches for a
short while to get some air down below. However, the temperatures are still
cold around the Fifties and Franck Cammas and his nine crew will have to
wait another couple of days before they can really dry out both boat and
bodies alike… After the pressure of the Pacific, it’s time for the
decompression of the Atlantic! Indeed the three new cape horners weren’t shy
in expressing their satisfaction at having reached this third cape of the
Jules Verne Trophy.
However, though the giant trimaran is still making good headway to the NE,
she will have to deal with headwinds over the coming days. The current
programme is for Groupama 3 to pass to the East and a long way offshore of
the Falkland Islands and further extend the distance to travel; a detour
which could add an extra 1,100 miles to the course between Ushant and Cape
Horn in relation to the wake of her predecessor, Orange 2… Some additional
miles on the menu then, but this will accompany a largely sufficient average
speed (nearly thirty knots) to maintain a lead of 150 miles. This news comes
as a further paradox since Bruno Peyron and his crew were very fast on this
ascent of the Southern Atlantic (8d 05h 36') as far as the equator,
benefiting from downwind conditions as far as Brazil, while Franck Cammas
and his men are sailing with slightly eased sheets in a moderate breeze…
Ultimately conditions aren’t proving as unfavourable as all that then for
the giant trimaran, which seems to have a particular fondness for the medium
wind and flat seas!
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)
WSSRC record from equator to equator
Orange 2 (2005): 33d 16h 06'
Find all the latest about the Groupama trimarans on:
www.cammas-groupama.com
Translated by Kate Jennings – Expression
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