With a lead of 324 miles over the reference time, the Maxi Banque Populaire V was handicapped for more than 48 hours by a damaged daggerboard due to a collision with a UFO*.  The crew have tried everything to repair the broken piece and resume their round the world tour. However, after 24 hours of intensive care, Pascal Bidegorry and his men must face the facts: it is not possible for them to continue this journey with a daggerboard that does not fulfil its potential when one looks closely at the long upwind voyage ahead to the Kerguelen Islands. After fourteen days of sailing that has seen an impressive performance from the boat, the fourteen men on board are therefore forced to quit in their first record attempt of the Jules Verne Trophy.
Reached by telephone late this morning, Pascal Bidegorry talked through this difficult but reasoned decision:

“Yesterday, we spent the day sawing the end of the damaged daggerboard. We managed to clear a good part of it and scraped inside it to make it fair.  Right now, the guys are trying to fill it in with whatever they find. Then we will have to fair the outside. The boat is a true composite workshop at the moment, which is not ideal at 46 ° south, in the cold and permanent fog. We are left with two meters of daggerboard instead of the usual 5.80 meters. At the scale of a boat like ours, it does not help performance and we have a lot of upwind conditions ahead to get up to the Kerguelen Islands, conditions under which the total length of the daggerboard is essential. We have been working on it for two and a half days and despite all our determination, we fully realize that we cannot put it back before noon tomorrow at the earliest. We need to be objective, we are racing a record and need to be competitive. Not carrying on is more than obvious today, especially since we know that there are a lot of upwind conditions awaiting us. We cannot sail as fast as we wanted in the south. We have left the boundaries of what is the essence of our mission.

We have thus decided to leave some time for the team in charge of the “yard-work” to finish repairing the damage properly. Then slowly but surely we will return to Lorient. We are big boys, we came here alone and we will come back under sail. For now, we are still heading east. We should have a wind shift within a couple of hours to make a northern route. We should get very soft conditions within 24 hours, which will allow us to finish the repair. Then we will start again in the trade winds, downwind to the Doldrums. ”

The disappointment and frustration of the Maxi Banque Populaire V’s crew and of Banque Populaire itself are inevitably strong today, but everyone knows that this decision is right, as there is still two thirds of the world left to sail around in this attempt.

After leaving Brest on Saturday, January 22, the Maxi Banque Populaire had performed well, confirming its potential as a hunter of records. Nevertheless, on the night of February 2nd to 3rd, what is suspected to be a whale destroyed Pascal Bidegorry and his men’s hopes in the South Atlantic, a few hundred miles away from the Cape of Good Hope. Forced to retire after two and a half days spent trying to find a way out, they do not intend to stop and will therefore head north to their Lorient base Lorient, a trip that will take 18 to 20 days.

Without doubt, these fourteen great sailors and the Maxi now have a mission to take on this world tour. This is how Pascal Bidegorry concluded the today’s vacation:
“I am determined to do this round the world and to beat that record. We have both a reliable boat on which we worked really well and a sporty degree of quality that makes me think that the Maxi Banque Populaire V deserves so much better than what we are offering it today. We must continue to work for the future. ”

If this Jules Verne Trophy attempt ends this Saturday 5th February, we must recall that this was the first attempt of the giant trimaran bearing the image of the Sailing Bank, tenaciously committed forover 20 years in offshore racing and its mechanical hazards.

* UFO: unknown floating object
Maxi Banque Populaire V’s crew list
Off Watch :
Pascal Bidégorry : skipper
Juan Vila : navigator

Watch n°1
Yvan Ravussin : Watch leader, in charge of video and composite
Brian Thompson : Helmsman / Trimmer
Thierry Chabagny : Helmsman / Trimmer
Pierre-Yves Moreau : Bowman, in charge of fittings and composite

Watch n°2
Fred Le Peutrec : Watch leader
Emmanuel Le Borgne : Helmsman / Trimmer, in charge of medics
Erwan Tabarly : Helmsman / Trimmer, in charge of electonics
Ronan Lucas : Bowman, in charge of security

Watch n°3
Jérémie Beyou  : Watch leader
Kevin Escoffier: Helmsman / Trimmer, in charge of video
Xavier Revil  : Helmsman / Trimmer, in charge of food
Florent Chastel : Bowman, in charge of medics and rigging

Marcel van Triest : Shore weather routeur

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After running into an ‘unidentified floating object’ overnight from Wednesday to Thursday, Pascal Bidegorry and his men had to head North for a while, in order to reach better sea and wind conditions to lift the daggerboard out of its case and evaluate the extent of the damage. The operation, which took about three hours, showed that the impact tore 2m20 of the submerged part and confirmed the disappearance of the crashbox. Brought back on deck, the daggerboard currently takes full attention from the Maxi Banque Populaire V crew, which is doing everything possible with the means available on board to get back to normal racing on this Jules Verne Trophy.
Pascal Bidegorry came back on the operation on the phone this morning: “At night, we arrived in an area allowing us to lift the daggerboard without too much difficulty. The handling took us nearly three hours during which we lied off. Emmanuel Le Borgne took the “benefit” of it to dive under the Maxi Banque Populaire V to assess possible damage onto the rudder blades and hull bottoms. There is nothing serious on those matters. Once the dagg on the deck, we found out that there is a missing piece of roughly 2m20. The shock was so intense that it broke the structural bar of the dagg. We are currently trying to cut out the end of it, which is reduced to shreds. However the mission is not that simple at all with the few tools we have. We are using a hacksaw and a drill. Once cut, we will study the possibility to stratify it.  Our objective is to shut the lower part of it to make it waterproof. Otherwise, it would continue to delaminate with speed.”

A lot of work is expected for the next 24 hours, during which the Maxi Banque Populaire V will have to sail at a reduced pace.

“We are sailing under Solent with 6 knots of wind, and what is sure is that all this does not help us gaining time! We hope we will able to lift the gennaker fast enough but for now we need it to steady the dagg. We will do everything to succeed in this approach. We will move forward, hour by hour, trying to relaunch this Maxi Banque Populaire V history in this Jules Verne Trophy. We will make the appropriate decision once we have tried everything to resume on our progress around the world with normal navigation and safety conditions. But for now, we carry on and facing the events, I tell myself that I am very fortunate to sail with a highly united crew who do not hesitate to roll up its sleeves in adversity! “.

So these are difficult times that lie ahead for Pascal Bidégorry and his men who nevertheless keep their full determination to continue this wonderful story. Activity looks intense at sea, but in this thirteenth day of racing, the Maxi Banque Populaire V still leads by 195 miles on the timetable. The race against time continues.

The record in figures
Record to beat
To become holder of the Jules Verne record, the Maxi Banque Populaire V has to be back no later than the 11th March 2011 at 7 pm 55 minutes 37 seconds (Paris time).

Reference time
Groupama 3 (Franck Cammas): 48d 7h 44min 52s

Lead / Delay at 3:00pm
 156.1 miles ahead of the reference time

Maxi Banque Populaire V’s crew list
Off Watch :
Pascal Bidégorry : skipper
Juan Vila : navigator

Watch n°1
Yvan Ravussin : Watch leader, in charge of video and composite
Brian Thompson : Helmsman / Trimmer
Thierry Chabagny : Helmsman / Trimmer
Pierre-Yves Moreau : Bowman, in charge of fittings and composite

Watch n°2
Fred Le Peutrec : Watch leader
Emmanuel Le Borgne : Helmsman / Trimmer, in charge of medics
Erwan Tabarly : Helmsman / Trimmer, in charge of electonics
Ronan Lucas : Bowman, in charge of security

Watch n°3
Jérémie Beyou  : Watch leader
Kevin Escoffier: Helmsman / Trimmer, in charge of video
Xavier Revil  : Helmsman / Trimmer, in charge of food
Florent Chastel : Bowman, in charge of medics and rigging

Marcel van Triest : Shore weather routeur

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It was 5.56 am (Paris time) this morning when the Maxi Trimiran Banque Populaire V crossed the Equator, just 5 days 17 hours 44 minutes and 15 seconds since leaving Ushant. The maxi trimaran skippered by Pascal Bidegorry recorded the second fastest time in history on this section of the record attempt (Ushant to Equator). In doing so they have covered 3575 miles, at an average of 25.9 knots, keeping a slight advantage on the reference time of the Jules Verne. The crew is now recovering after a difficult crossing of the Doldrums and before the next challenging obstacle: The Saint Helena High.

Crossing the Equator
Crossing the equator is a not just a geographic area of note, but it also remains a true religion for sailors and the passage of this imaginary line has been celebrated as it should be on board the Maxi Banque Populaire V. The fourteen men have were glad to ease off the pressure they were under through the Doldrums and enjoy the mixture of superstition and tradition.

Three crewmen (Ronan Lucas, Xavier Revil and Pierre-Yves Moreau), who were crossing it for the first time, qualified as rookies for the traditional ‘crossing the line’ ceremony. For this impromptu party, Yvan (Ravussin) made a mixture of olive oil, tea, Tabasco, soya sauce, lemon, nuts, pepper and coffee!  “I asked them to wake me up to celebrate it altogether” explained Xavier. “Yvan’s preparation was really tasty! I am sure he put everything he could find on board! But it was important to share this moment as we had been fighting hard for the past 24 hours to reach the Equator! And the sailing conditions were perfect to do so, at 28 knots under gennaker: rather exceptional apparently.”

It was then Neptune’s turn to be celebrated. For Brian Thompson, who was crossing it for the thirteenth time, this moment was particularly important : “ I made an offering to Neptune of some of France’s finest saucisson, something I would have enjoyed , but better to propitiate the god of the sea, just in case, and to keep the tradition. This is my 13 crossing now, so it has worked so far!”

The Santa Helena dilemma

Getting through the Doldrums was not an easy task for the Maxi Banque Populaire V as the skipper, Pascal Bidegorry, explained: “It’s liberating to get out of there! It was pretty tense yesterday as it is not obvious how to sail in under 2 tiny knots of wind! We should gradually reach better conditions and we are now sailing at 27 knots in 15-17 knots of wind with full mainsail and solent. The wind still oscillates a little, but should stabilize in few hours with a clearer sky.” Such conditions give the crew some time to recover a little, before having to tackle another tricky system.

Indeed, the weather situation is not very clear off the Brazilian coast. With the Saint Helena High blocking the shortest route to the Cape of Good Hope, Banque Populaire V might have to get round this high pressure area spread out from East to West. “The situation is not very clear for now but we might have to go around the northern side of it, which would imply taking a big detour to reach Good Hope. We are attentively looking at the satellite images received every hour. One certain thing is that we do not have a crystal ball to look into but we definitely won’t let any opportunity go, and make everything we can to increase our lead on the reference time” concluded Pascal.

Maxi Banque Populaire V’s crew list
Off Watch :
Pascal Bidégorry : skipper
Juan Vila : navigator

Watch n°1
Yvan Ravussin : Watch leader, in charge of video and composite
Brian Thompson : Helmsman / Trimmer
Thierry Chabagny : Helmsman / Trimmer
Pierre-Yves Moreau : Bowman, in charge of fittings and composite

Watch n°2
Fred Le Peutrec : Watch leader
Emmanuel Le Borgne : Helmsman / Trimmer, in charge of medics
Erwan Tabarly : Helmsman / Trimmer, in charge of electonics
Ronan Lucas : Bowman, in charge of security

Watch n°3
Jérémie Beyou  : Watch leader
Kevin Escoffier: Helmsman / Trimmer, in charge of video
Xavier Revil  : Helmsman / Trimmer, in charge of food
Florent Chastel : Bowman, in charge of medics and rigging

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Moored at the Port du Chateau in Brest since October 20, the Maxi Trimaran Banque Populaire is ready for his big rendezvous: the Jules Verne Trophy.. As of the 1st November, Pascal Bidegorry and his Team have officially entered the stand-by period, during which weather data will be scrutinized very closely to undertake and beat the referenced time of this circumnavigation around the globe.
All set for departure

The Banque Populaire Team is all set. Strong of their experience and victories on the North-Atlantic crossing, the 24 hours record and lately the trans-Mediterranean record, Pascal Bidegorry, the fourteen men on board and the onshore router, Marcel van Triest, peacefully deal with the beginning of the stand-by period : “We are fully prepared since the Maxi Banque Populaire is moored in Brest. We have now been focusing on the weather and stand ready to seize the slightest opportunity. Marcel van Triest and Juan Villa, our embarked navigator, work together regularly as new weather data fall every six hours. For my part, I make two daily meetings with them in order to get a more accurate visibility. To preserve myself, I however try to be more detached from the presence requirement involved by the stand-by period. Jeremie Beyou is thus in charge of taking over the crew. We adapt the organization based on lessons learned from our previous records. ”
Forced to delay their attempt last year due to the absence of a satisfactory weather window, the skipper concedes that: “Ideally I would like it not to last! I was at the start of the Route du Rhum in Saint-Malo last weekend and I can admit that I felt a bit envious. First the show was beautiful and I really enjoyed seeing all those multihulls sailing, but also because they knew they were leaving at 13h02 on Sunday! The issue with records is that you never know when one leaves. We have a vision for a few days only. The objective for us is to try to live this period the best possible way and to have a simple life outside the stand-by, for those working on land and for our families. ”

The international view

Brian Thompson, who won the Jules Verne Trophy abord Cheyenne in 2004, does not hide neither his willingness to depart. “I am really looking forward to it. To me, the Maxi Banque Populaire is clearly the greatest ocean racing multihull ever built. Because it’s the latest, the biggest one and because it has proved itself by getting the transatlantic and the 24 hour records, which are the benchmark for speed !”           
However, based in Cowes on the Isle of Wight, the logistic is not the same for the British sailor.  “The plan is that 24 hours before a possible departure, the crew is asked to come to Lorient. Then we monitor the weather, prepare everything and then move to Brest before departure. I think we will be going quite soon, but if there is a possibility that we are not going for a long time, then the Team will regularly gather and spend some time together training in Lorient.”

It can be felt that, while it is now time to wait for a favorable weather system, there is a fierce desire to go from the whole Banque Populaire team. Systems and their evolutions will be thoroughly analyzed to give Pascal and his men the opportunity to depart and beat the referenced time established last winter by Franck Cammas and his crew in 48 days, 7 hours, 44 minutes and 52 seconds

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After 7 weeks of yard work for a complete check up, the Maxi Banque Populaire V is now all set for the start of the term! The skipper, Pascal Bidegorry, is pleased to announce his crew list and welcomes three highly experienced sailors on board, enriching its existing strong core team for their attempt on the Jules Verne Trophy. As of today, everybody is in Lorient to start training and validate the different changes made on the trimaran before entering the stand-by period of the Jules Verne Trophy on the 1st of November.
A spectacular crew!

Since her launch two years ago, Banque Populaire V has been victorious in every record undertaken: the North-Atlantic crossing, the 24 hours record and lately the trans-Mediterranean record. For this attempt around the world, Pascal Bidegorry and Ronan Lucas have logically kept the core crew which participated in these victories: Yvan Ravussin, Emmanuel Le Borgne Jeremie Beyou and Florent Chastel, who have been sailing with Pascal for many years, along with members from the Banque Populaire Team, such as Ronan Lucas, Kevin Escoffier and Pierre-Yves Moreau. Sailors sharing other competences such as Xavier Revil, Thierry Chabagny and Erwan Tabarly were also part of these records.

Three highly experienced sailors join today the existing sailing team. First, Fred Le Peutrec who benefits from a strong experience in multihull sailing and won the Jules Verne Trophy last year aboard Groupama 3.      
The crew will also be composed of two international sailors who have sailed around the world on the most famous races: Brian Thomson and Juan Vila. Brian is recognized as being one of the most experienced British sailors with a vast experience in offshore sailing and holds no less than twenty-five sailing records to date and won the Jules Verne Trophy aboard Cheyenne in 2004. On the other side, Juan totalizes no less than 4 participations in the Volvo Ocean Race (winner in 2001) and 5 participations in the America’s Cup, including one victory in 2007 on board Alinghi.

Pascal Bidegorry explains: “I wanted to enrich the crew with solid experienced of round-the-world sailors and it now the case with their arrival. We have already had the opportunity to sail all together in the Mediterranean and on the convoying return, and there is an excellent atmosphere when they are on board, which does not waste anything! I am delighted with this 2010 vintage. It goes the right way and supplements a crew which is already famous for his great quality. We will have interesting navigations in the coming weeks “.
Heavy program!

After a few days in the water at her base in Lorient, the Maxi Banque Populaire V is already sailing with her crew. There is no time to waste to engage the season the best way: “I’m obviously very pleased to be back sailing aboard the Maxi Banque Populaire V” confided Pascal. “We will peacefully put the boat back into racing conditions; confirm the changes made on the wardrobe as on the new sails. We will also test some small modifications made on riggings in order to ease maneuvers.  This week will be devoted to sailing by the day and we plan in staying a little longer at sea next week.”    

With the mix of competence and experience, added up to the heavy work that will be carried out before the stand-by period, it can safely be said that Pascal Bidegorry and the Banque Populaire Team are seizing every opportunities to make this Jules Verne Trophy a victory.
The crew on the Maxi Banque Populaire V for the Jules Verne Trophy

Out of the watch system
Pascal Bidégorry: skipper
Juan Vila: navigator

Watch n°1
Yvan Ravussin : Watch leader, in charge of video and composite
Brian Thompson : helmsman – trimmer
Thierry Chabagny : Helmsman – trimmer
Pierre-Yves Moreau : Bowman, in charge of fittings and composite

Watch n°2
Fred Le Peutrec : Watch leader
Emmanuel Le Borgne : Helmsman – trimmer, medical attendant
Erwan Tabarly : Helmsman – trimmer, in charge of electronics
Ronan Lucas : Bowman, in charge of safety

Watch n°3
Jérémie Beyou : Watch leader
Kevin Escoffier : helmsman – trimmer, in charge of video
Xavier Revil : helmsman – trimmer, in charge of the food on board
Florent Chastel : Bowman, in charge of riggings and medical attendant

Marcel Van Triest : weather router

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The Jules Verne Trophy now belongs to ten men who have sailed around the globe at an average of 18.76 knots along the optimum course, beating the reference time set by Orange 2 in 2005 by 2 days 08 hours 35 minutes. Franck Cammas and his men crossed the finish line off the Créac’h lighthouse at Ushant (Finistère) at 21h40’45″ UTC Saturday 20th March. They are due to make the Port du Château in Brest at around 0900 UTC tomorrow. 

The skipper Franck Cammas, navigator Stan Honey, watch leaders Fred Le Peutrec and Steve Ravussin, helmsmen/trimmers Loïc Le Mignon, Thomas Coville and Lionel Lemonchois, and the three bowmen Bruno Jeanjean, Ronan Le Goff and Jacques Caraës, supported on shore by router Sylvain Mondon, have pulled it off: they have beaten the round the world record under sail via the three capes!

In 48 days 07 hours 44 minutes, Groupama 3 has certainly had her highs and lows, as she hasn’t always been ahead of the reference time set by Bruno Peyron and his crew in 2005. On the contrary! The giant trimaran had a deficit of just over 500 miles in relation to Orange 2 and was only able to beat the Jules Verne Trophy record thanks to a dazzling final sprint from the equator. At that stage they had a deficit of one day and two hours, but by devouring the North Atlantic in 6 days 10 h 35′, Groupama 3 quite simply pulverised the reference time over this section of the course. 

 

Setting out on 31st January 2010 whilst the weather `window’ was not particularly favourable, Franck Cammas and his men have alternated between some extremely fast sequences and some very slow ones. Indeed, the conditions were very varied on this round the world, and even the wind rarely exceeded 40 knots. It has to be said that the chosen trajectory sought to avoid the heavy seas and the overly strong breezes, which considerably increased the distance to travel: in fact Groupama 3 sailed 28,523 miles whilst the official optimum course amounts to 21,760 miles. As such, in terms of actual speed across the ground, the giant trimaran maintained an average speed of 24.6 knots! The trickiest zone, both on the outward journey and the return proved to be the South Atlantic. During the descent problems arose due to the calms and on the ascent due to the headwinds.

Tonight Groupama 3 is remaining offshore of Ushant to await daybreak: she will enter the channel into the harbour of Brest at around 0830 UTC under sail, then a parade around the harbour will culminate with her tying up in the Port du Château at around 1000 hours UTC. A number of France’s top sailors, including Bruno Peyron, previous Jules Verne Trophy holder since 2005, have made the trip to Brest to welcome in the victorious crew and the locals are planning to come out in force to welcome home the ten round the world sailors on Sunday morning.

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In the disturbed air flow spread all over the Atlantic, Groupama 3 carries on its rapid progress towards the finish line and substantially increases its lead over the reference time. The arrival at the Créac’h's lighthouse is still scheduled for Saturday, but the time frame remains open all day as the low pressure area could slow down the giant trimaran. 

If the departure’s weather window was narrow, the gates of arrival are now wide open! But 1 500 miles away from Ushant, Franck Cammas and his men are not done yet with changing conditions: by having to approach the center of low pressure which is currently pushing the giant trimaran, the wind will become more unstable and should suddenly change from South-West to North-West. The wind will also strengthen to over thirty knots with gusts in the squalls and the crew will therefore have many maneuvers to undertake until the entry of the Gulf of Biscay.

“The sea is short, the wind is not very stable: it does not slide that much. But the sky is very clear unlike yesterday. On Wednesday night, we got it all: the wind went from six to thirty knots! With a flood of rain on top of that. Since we went through the front, everything is going much better, from wind to sea. However it will evolve as we get closer to the center of the low pressure area.” Franck Cammas indicated during the videoconference from 1230 with the Groupama’s Race HQ in Paris in the presence of culinary presenter Jean-Luc Petitrenaud. 

 

Front Canvas…
After 46 days at sea, the crew is starting to get impatient and although the distance between land and the sailors is reduced by great surfs; we felt during the video conference with Franck Cammas that the crew was eager to return to their family … and to normal food!

“We’re going to have a good steak because dried food looks more like dog food! Eating is not a pleasure every day: luckily we got fish dishes and sauces prepared by Philippe Rochat to get some taste … We are sailing too fast to fish and we have only raised a small flying fish out of this world tour, so small that we returned it to the sea ”

The finish meal will still wait until Saturday as, by then, the crew will have to be fit and ready for the tough, but also irregular finish: the front will force men to reduce the sail and during those nights with almost no moon, navigation is always a bit stressful, especially when they have to maneuver. Without counting the shipping traffic which will intensify towards the approach of Cape Finisterre and a sea state to be degraded on arrival on the Continental Plateau. 

 

And front swells…
“We’ll have a rough night coming as it is always difficult to touch a low pressure center: the wind is very irregular and the sea becomes chaotic as the waves mingle with the West great swell! These phases are unpleasant and risky for the equipment. We still have 24 hours a bit tricky … 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 do not hesitate in giving a hand to the guys on watch for the maneuvers and for sails changes, to avoid fatigue and constantly adapt to this changing wind. ”

Groupama’s Race HQ moves this Thursday evening in Brest to prepare the arrival of the giant trimaran which should see the Brittany coast on Saturday. Once this low pressure area is passed tomorrow night, ETA (estimated time of arrival) can be refined to one or two hours. However, so far, the opening is between 8:00 and 20:00 (French time) depending on sea conditions and the wind regularity, as if the clock of the Jules Verne Trophy shells minutes, the yo-yo effect of the weather can change the “cooee” time ! 

 Day 45 (17th March 1400 UTC): 441 miles (lead = 412 miles)
Day 46 (18th March 1300 UTC): 579 miles (lead = 828 miles) 

 

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