Today the Challenge and Adventure team had the pleasure of visiting Francis Joyon onboard IDEC. The current solo Round the World Record holder and former Transatlantic Record holder is in New York to attempt to set a new Transatlantic Record. He arrived in New York last night to make final preparations on his Maxi Trimaran IDEC. His bright red boat patiently waits at Gateway Marina to loose her lines and take him on another record breaking adventure.
It looks like it’s a green light for Joyon to leave tomorrow (Sunday) night for his Solo Transatlantic record attempt. Joyon wants to take this record back from Thomas Coville who currently holds the record that Francis Joyon owned from 2005-2008. The time to beat is 5 days 19 hours 29 minutes and 20 seconds. Joyon’s weather router-navigator, Jean-Yves Bernot, has spied a window for Sunday evening with a front moving off the East Coast of the USA to push him across the start. Joyon will leave New York and start the clock at the buoy, which recently replaced the legendary Ambrose Light Tower, a few miles off the New York Coast and finish the crossing at The Lizard.
A quiet air of confidence is displayed by the the skipper as bounces around the boat doing last minute checks of gear and stores for the crossing. He restocked some fruit and water in addition Freeze-dried food already on board. Her bottom is smooth, he dove on her this morning but he says he may dive again once more just to make sure. Francis Joyon has waited nearly 6 weeks for this window and three years for the opportunity and he is set to make the most out of it. He seems very ready and so does the boat. This new IDEC is about 20 percent faster than the older and that is a plus for shaving off time he needs to take the record.
We spoke about the first IDEC and his Atlantic record that ended with his getting the record, but loosing his beloved boat when after crossing the finish he crashed it on rocks after falling asleep delivering her home. He still misses that boat he said. Joyon said that during the crossing for the record he only had 6 hours sleep in 5 days. He will try to rest before this start he says. He finds it hard to sleep with planes flying overhead he adds. He sleeps best out to sea away from the noises of land and man.
As the current Solo Round the World Sailing Record holder he has set the bar very high for any challengers and it looks like it may be some time before he has to defend that title. But, when asked what he would do if someone did break his record. He said without hesitation he would go around again to take it back. Like I said quietly confident.
Bon Voyage Francis
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ICAP Leopard Racing (Photo courtesy of ICAP Leopard)
The ICAP Leopard_3, the 100ft super-maxi racing yacht is preparing to launch her assault on the west-to-east monohull transatlantic sailing record in the coming weeks.
The ICAP Leopard 3 features a radical new design concept and is a luxurious, signature charter yacht, a passage record breaker and a race winning super maxi sailing yacht.
The ICAP Leopard 3’s structural design and detailing were created by Farr_Yacht_Design and her interior and exterior styling is by Ken_Freivokh Designs. All other aspects have been managed by owner Mike Slade’s own very capable team, Ocean Marine.
The yacht is 30 m (100ft) in length, with a 6.8 m beam, a 5.5 m draft and a 4.5 metre fixed bowsprit. Her towering mast is 47 m high and her keel cants 40 degrees either side of centreline.
The yachts sleek hull is made of a powerful carbon fibre/nomex combination enabling exceptional speed. The interior volume allows for spacious accommodations which is a notable departure from the current fleet of extremely narrow boats. The wide hull of the ICAP Leopard 3 is especially suited for offshore high-speed sailing and racing and is enhanced by the presence of a chine that increases water flow off the hull and reduces structural weight.
LEOPARD 3 Racing.
The ICAP Leopard features a set of efficient underwater foils including a canting keel, twin asymmetric lifting canards forward and a single rudder on centerline aft. The stability of this canting the keel is equivalent to 200 crew members sitting on the rail, without the added weight. Two hydraulic cylinders typically operating at a load of 61 tonnes cant the keel.
The ICAP Leopards towering rig is 47 metres above the water and can carry up to 15,000 square feet of sail area.
Sailing yacht ICAP Leopard_3 has other unique High Performance Features such as twin dagger boards, (rather than a single forward canard) mounted on hydraulic rollers and a single rudder. The canards, located on either side of the mast, perfectly balance the sail forces and are lifted and lowered using hydraulically powered pinch rollers. A single, aft rudder controls the steering. The sailing yacht has the ability to take aboard up to six tonnes of water in the transom area enabling the bow to lift in fast downwind conditions.
Designed and styled by ‘Ken Freivokh Design’ in Fareham, UK, the Leopard’s interior is fitted out in an ultra light, airy and modern decor. The elegant and modern saloon is fitted with home comforts and comfortably seats 12. The large dining table is to port and to starboard a custom-built carbon coffee table is surrounded by ample seating in rich cream leather.
Following a period of extensive racing, sailing yacht Leopard will ‘evolve’ into phase 2 when three luxurious double guest cabins forward will be fitted prior to the yacht being offered to the termed charter markets of the Mediterranean and the Caribbean. Her interior is fully removable for racing.
LEOPARD 3 Saloon
The 100ft super maxi racing vessel ICAP Leopard_3 is currently berthed in New York preparing to launch her attack upon the west-to-east monohull transatlantic sailing record in the coming weeks.
Launched in 2007 ICAP Leopard, has already broken 12 major offshore racing records, including the fastest elapsed time ever set in the prestigious Rolex Fastnet Race. The west-to-east monohull transatlantic sailing record will see her tackle the path between Ambrose Light, NY and the Lizard Point, which marks the entrance to the English Channel.
ICAP Leopards target for this attempt will primarily be the record for monohull yachts with power-assisted systems of seven days, 19 hours and 21 minutes that she set in June 2008. Since setting this benchmark the yacht has undergone a series of modifications and the crew are confident that in the right conditions, they will be able to better Mari Cha IV’s outright monohull transatlantic speed record of 6 days 17 hours and 52 minutes.
Negotiating complex weather systems will play an integral role in ICAP Leopard’s latest transatlantic record attempt and will be monitored by veteran navigator Hugh Agnew.
The Captain of the ICAP Leopard is Chris Sherlock who commented: “We can’t wait to get stuck into another attempt on the Atlantic record. Last time a tight weather window forced us into accepting less than ideal conditions for our record run but we have slightly more leeway this time. Our weather window will open on the 11th May and then we will have roughly three weeks to plan our departure. This should allow us to set ourselves up for the best possible weather pattern.”
Mike Slade the owner of sailing yacht ICAP Leopard noted: “This is something that I have been looking forward to ever since we crossed the finish line last time around. It has been brilliant to hold the record for yachts with power-assisted winches but we know we can go faster. The yacht and crew have been tempered over a two year period of hard racing and we are now sailing faster and harder than ever before. We will have a decent period of time in which to pick our weather window and the crew are all preparing to go on standby for what promises to be a thrilling sprint across the pond!”
Groupama 3 In Cape Town (Photo by Alain Paulhac / Welcome on Board)
Whilst she was set to leave South Africa this Friday morning, the Groupama 3 trimaran has now been forced to remain in the port of Cape Town temporarily after her generator failed.
“We were in the process of charging the batteries one last time when, all of a sudden, the alarm sounded in the engine compartment. After a thorough check by Yann Mérour, it has been deemed to be out of service. It’s annoying as we should already be at sea by now but that’s just the way it is” says Fred Le Peutrec. He continues: “It’s better that this problem occurred now rather than after we’d set sail because, without power, we can’t desalinate the seawater. As a result we would have been forced to make a stopover, which is never simple in such a large boat”.
Around the basin where Groupama 3 is tied up, cameras from all around the world are trained on the drawing of lots for the World Cup football tournament. However, the main focus for the Groupama Team is arranging a new Yanmar engine block to be sent down from France: “We’ve found an identical one to ours, which is a positive step. We just have to get it delivered to Cape Town, which isn’t easy. If everything goes smoothly at customs, we should receive the block on Sunday evening, assemble everything onto it on Monday and then head out to sea on Tuesday” explains Fred Le Peutrec.
Though it may seem surprising that a yacht is stuck in port with engine failure, it is worth pointing out that, without power, Groupama 3 is deprived of:
- Communication with land
- Weather information
- Lights and radar
- Electronic instruments showing the strength and direction of the wind
- Freshwater, which is essential for hydrating the crew and the freeze-dried food.
And even though Groupama 3 has a wind generator and solar panels, they are only back-up energy sources and hence not sufficient to cover the 6,000 miles (11,200 km) under satisfactory conditions of safety: “From our arrival in Cape Town, we decided that Groupama 3 had to leave South Africa in as close to perfect condition as possible in order to validate all the repair work on the return delivery trip. The same is true for the engine” adds Fred Le Peutrec, who concludes: “By leaving Cape Town on 8th December, we still have a chance of making Brest before the Christmas festivity. Indeed this is the latest challenge we have set ourselves as, together with the start of stand-by for the Jules Verne Trophy remaining set at 1st January, there will be little time left to share with our families”.
The organisation of Groupama 3′s crew between Cape Town and Brest:
Watch No.1: Fred Le Peutrec, Eric Lamy, Nick Legatt
Watch No.2: Lionel Lemonchois, Ludovic Aglaor, Clément Surtel
Watch No.3: Ronan Le Goff, Thierry Duprey du Vordent, Jacques Caraës
Off-watch navigator: François Salabert
Land-based weather adviser: Sylvain Mondon
Groupama 3 In Capetown Awaiting Departure (Photo by Alain Paulhac / Welcome OnBoard)
On stopover in Cape Town, South Africa since 21st November, after suffering damage during her Jules Verne Trophy attempt, the trimaran Groupama 3 will head back out to sea again tomorrow morning, Friday, bound for Brest. Having been repaired and reinforced by the team’s shore crew, the maxi trimaran is likely to take two to three weeks to cover the 6,000 miles (11,500 km) separating her from Brittany.
Of the ten men making up the Jules Verne Trophy crew four will be onboard to deliver Groupama 3 to Brest, where she will begin a new period of stand-by to tackle the Round the World record on 1st January: “The presence aboard of the entire Jules Verne crew wasn’t justified. As such, together with Lionel Lemonchois, Jacques Caraës, Ronan Le Goff and six new crew, we’ll be in a position to validate the reliability of the repairs carried out in Cape Town” explains Fred Le Peutrec, who will be shouldering the role of skipper during this climb up the Atlantic.
“We’re going to make the most of this delivery trip to give some members of the shore crew a chance to sail, as they know Groupama 3 very well. They will include Eric Lamy, Clément Surtel as well as François Salabert. We will also be playing host to some other multihull specialists: Thierry Duprey du Vorsent, Ludovic Aglaor as well as a South African who notably sailed aboard Cheyenne, Nick Legatt” adds Fred Le Peutrec.
In all, Groupama’s stopover in Cape Town will have lasted nearly two weeks: “Once we’d worked out where the damage was, it was necessary to bring in the architects and engineers to determine the cause so that we could be sure about what repairs and reinforcement were required on the beam-float joints. There was great understanding in the collaboration between the Groupama Team’s research department and the architects from VPLP and HDS. As such we’ll be setting off with complete trust in what is a more solid boat in tip-top condition. It was very important for the whole team to take the time to do things properly, without being overly hasty” continues Fred.
Determined to set off on a fresh attempt at the Jules Verne Trophy from 1st January 2010, the crew of Groupama 3 has managed to find the energy necessary for this new challenge, despite the inevitable disappointment caused by this damage: “We were really on the pace. Despite our retirement, we monitored the evolution of the weather system we’d been sailing in. It was excellent as far as Australia. That goes to prove the quality of the work carried out by Stan Honey, our navigator, as well as Sylvain Mondon, the weather adviser at Météo France. This augurs well for the next stage and the five weeks of stand-by we’ll have at our disposal between 1st January and 6th February for our new attempt” comments Franck Cammas.
Returning to France a few days ago with Bruno Jeanjean, Thomas Coville, Stève Ravussin and soon to be joined by Loïc Le Mignon, the skipper of Groupama 3 will be monitoring the return delivery trip very closely: “We chose to repair Groupama 3 in Cape Town in order to validate her reliability at sea. Calculations have their limitations. Nothing can beat offshore trials for testing the structure and I have complete trust in the crew onboard to achieve this”.
As regards the weather, conditions will be favourable for getting back into the Northern hemisphere: “We’ll be setting off in 15 to 20 knots of SSE’ly. As such we’ll be on a reach along the coast until Sunday and then we’ll put in some westing to cross the equator at around 25° West. The next stage of the passage will depend on the depressions sweeping across the North Atlantic, but whatever happens we should make it into Brest before Christmas and hence spend the festive period with our families” concludes Fred Le Peutrec.
The organisation of Groupama 3′s crew between Cape Town and Brest:
Watch No.1: Fred Le Peutrec, Eric Lamy, Nick Legatt
Watch No.2: Lionel Lemonchois, Ludovic Aglaor, Clément Surtel
Watch No.3: Ronan Le Goff, Thierry Duprey du Vordent, Jacques Caraës
Off-watch navigator: François Salabert
Land-based weather adviser: Sylvain Mondon
Tied up alongside in the port of Cape Town since Saturday, Groupama 3 certainly isn’t being left in peace, far from it in fact. Barely had she reached the dock, then the shore crew managed by Yann Mérour, all of whom had made the trip down from Lorient, had taken control of matters with the assistance of the sailors. Structural analysis of the damage and observations made on site by composite specialists, confirm that it will indeed take a week’s work before Groupama 3 can head out to sea again, bound for Brest, for a new stand-by period set to begin on 1st January 2010.
Benefiting from the technical means available in the Shosholoza base (a team which participated in the 32nd edition of the America’s Cup), Pierre Tissier, Sandy Blanalt, Sarah Lynch and Eric Beylot are all working on Groupama 3′s port float. In a dry, oppressive heat, which is favourable for working on carbon, they have begun by cutting out the faulty bulkhead and then constructing its replacement: “It’s never easy to work in such a confined space. Luckily this bulkhead is very close to the access hatch though. This enables us to poke our heads out into the fresh air on a regular basis. It certainly is hot though!” says Eric Beylot, who is almost missing the gloomy weather reigning back home in Brittany.
Franck Cammas (Photo by Team Groupama)
Having made the journey down from Johannesburg, three infra-red analysis specialists have inspected the affected zone without finding any side-effects. This is a good thing according to the skipper of Groupama 3, who only rarely leaves his telephone, as he’s in regular contact with his design office, the architects from the VPLP and HDS: “By running the data through their computers again, they’ve realised that the load case which concerns us today was not intended to exceed six tonnes. The sailing conditions we endured very certainly produced greater stresses than that. This is why we’re also going to reinforce the equivalent bulkhead on the starboard float” explains Franck.
As far as the rest of Groupama 3 is concerned though, she’s in perfect condition, ready to head back out to sea and set off once again to tackle this famous Jules Verne Trophy record, the value of which can now be appreciated even more: “It’s clear that in order to stand a chance of beating it, we’re going to have to go fast. We’re also going to have to go far, which we haven’t managed to do to date. It’s now down to us to prove we’re capable of that. From the moment the damage occurred, the whole crew have expressed their commitment to this. I’m proud of them and also proud of Groupama 3, which is an excellent boat. The same goes for my loyal partner, Groupama who, once again, are giving us their support in what is a difficult time” concludes Franck Cammas.
During this time, the rest of the crew are rinsing off the deck fittings and foulies, tidying up their `home’ and inspecting the deck from top to toe. Certain lines, such as those which control the descent and rise of the foils, are worn and have been replaced. When it’s time for lunch, conversations regularly revolve around the anecdotes experienced during the first 11 days of this Jules Verne Trophy attempt. These are always coloured by laughter which demonstrates, if there were a need, the extent of the bond between the ten crew, who together form a great team.
Groupama 3 Loic Le Mingnon In Action (Photo by Team Groupama)
Over the past 24 hours, the crew of Groupama 3 has been working together to contain the damage suffered around the beam bulkhead. The maxi trimaran has also had to let the Brazilian low pass over the top of her, which created strong winds last night… Franck Cammas looks back at the past few hours in the middle of the Southern Atlantic.
What is your current situation?
“We’re flirting with the centre of a big low, which has pushed us towards the Cape of Good Hope. However, a secondary low has formed over the cold front, with wind which can very quickly increase to 60 knots! As such we’ve taken refuge not far from the centre of the big low to let all that get past us. This is why we spent the whole night barepoled, heading due South. Since 0200 UTC this morning, we’ve been able to hoist more sail aloft as conditions have become more manageable. At the end of the afternoon we’re set to gybe and make headway eastwards towards Cape Town, by remaining at the rear of the worst of the bad weather. There will continue to be a swell and big seas and there’s still some debate as to how to handle the boat so as to prevent her from suffering. We won’t be taking any risks, even if we have to stop…”
How is life on board being organised?
“Everyone is busy with their own tasks: the lamination specialists (Lionel Lemonchois assisted by Thomas Coville) have been working throughout the night. We’re all disappointed but we’re already casting our minds to the future. We’re going to try to get Groupama 3 back to Brittany as fast as possible. When we decided to abandon the record attempt it came as a harsh blow: we went from a performance configuration to a simple delivery. It’s not the same life aboard, the atmosphere isn’t the same and the time seems to go by a lot slower. Fortunately we’ve got some books on board to be able to escape a little when we’re not helming…”
Do you have an explanation for this damage?
“We think that the stresses and motion of the float are the cause of it. There are always some interference effects which are difficult to model on a computer though. The waves never strike the boat in the same way and the platform is subject to some disorganised behaviour: there are some extremely violent vibrations in a chaotic sea. We think that the float has been able to ripple longitudinally with a series of waves on the stern, whilst the support level with the beam is very rigid. At that stage, the bulkhead cracking was the pivotal point in this scenario…”
What is the extent of the damage?
“The breakage isn’t spectacular, but we know things could deteriorate very quickly and impact on the structural integrity of Groupama 3. It’s worrying and will force us to make a technical pitstop, but it’s a lot less serious than the last time… The bulkhead which extends along the beam by entering the float has split open: We’ve had to install two braces to maintain the separation between two sections of the bulkhead, and then insert some foam before sticking it back together. Right now the bulkhead has been stiffened. However, we still have a problem with it as the bulkhead has caused the skin inside the float to become detached across an area of around 400 mm. For the time being we haven’t succeeded in sticking the float to the bulkhead so it’s moving with every wave. We have to hope that the UDs (unidirectional materials) which stiffen the base of the float don’t break, because that section is the float’s backbone! As such we’re going to have to find a way of joining the whole periphery of the bulkhead to the float.”
What are your objectives now?
“We’re going to have to reinforce the four beam attachments but first of all we’re going to have to carry out a thorough analysis with the engineers and architects. We certainly won’t be able to set off on a round the world without trusting in the repair and without knowing the reasons for this damage. It’s not 100% certain we’ll be able to set off again at the end of January. However, given that we left Ushant very early on, there is still a chance we can set off again before the season draws to a close. It’s feasible! We’re going to have to be happy with Groupama 3′s capacity to sail around the world though…”
What are the options over the coming days?
“We’ll get to Cape Town by 22nd November at best, or by 24th November at the latest. There is also a third option, which is to make straight for Lorient if the repairs we make at sea are satisfactory. This would save us a lot of time in our bid to get going on another attempt at the record. Currently there is no danger of the mast falling as it’s fixed onto another bulkhead and we’ve even been able to hoist the sail again, making 17 knots with the right angles to the wind and the seas…”
Groupama 3
It was at 1216 UT on Monday 16th November, that the skipper of Groupama 3, Franck Cammas, called the Jules Verne Trophy team to inform them that an aft beam bulkhead had broken, leading to serious damage to the float. Despite the storm, Groupama 3 is slowly making headway towards Cape Town some 1,700 miles away (3,000 km) and is therefore abandoning this particular Jules Verne Trophy…
At around 1200 UT this Monday, a big cracking sound dashed the hopes of Franck Cammas and his nine crew in their bid to break Orange 2′s round the world record from back in 2005 (50 d 16h 20′). A bulkhead attached to the aft beam simply gave up the ghost in the harsh conditions as the giant trimaran was sailing with her sails angled at 90° to the true wind in a powerful NNE’ly air flow and rough seas. The crew knew they had to go fast to stay in the right sector of the warm front, hot on their heels, in order to drop down towards the Cape of Good Hope with the Brazilian low. The resulting weakness then caused the windward float to fissure and, in light of the sizeable damage, the crew immediately stopped the boat and concluded that it would be necessary to abandon this round the world attempt.
“We’d spent the night sailing fast to stay ahead of the front and this morning Thomas Coville and Bruno Jeanjean were on deck when they heard a big `crack’: there was a small fissure between the aft beam and the port float. Conditions were really bouncy: we came to a standstill with the wind right on our tail so as to be able to open the hatch and get down inside the float. Part of the section between the beam and the float level with the bulkhead had become detached. As such the structural integrity was reduced by at least half. It is impossible to envisage effecting repairs at sea due to the motion. At the moment we’re still being shaken about: there was 35 knots of wind on the beam at the moment the incident occurred and just now, we’ve been caught up by the front so we’ve got 40 knots of breeze…
We’ve dumped the mainsail and Groupama 3 is running before the wind to avoid any harsh motion. We’re going to draw up a route to avoid having too much wind and excessive waves. We’re heading South to let the second low pass by us tonight and then we’ll head off towards Cape Town tomorrow morning, Tuesday. We’re continuing with the same watch system and I’m working with Stan to see what we can do next. The idea then is to get back to France as quickly as possible: the crew’s up for that and if we can set off again before the end of January then it’s still feasible to make a new attempt!” indicated Franck Cammas during a telephone link-up early this afternoon.
Present during this telephone interview with Franck, Director of External Communication at Groupama Frédérique Granado, explained the situation: “The most important thing is that the crew are safe and sound. Our priority is that they make Cape Town under the safest possible conditions. We know we can count on their experience and their determination to preserve Groupama 3. Hearing them allude to a new departure this winter is the best proof of this.”
Heading towards Africa
As such the wisest solution is to quickly make for port to get a better idea of the true scale of the damage and above all prevent the situation from worsening. Cape Town, around 1,700 miles ahead of the giant trimaran’s bows, will be the quickest pitstop to get to and the sea and wind conditions aren’t too bad. Nevertheless, it’s going to take a week’s sailing for Groupama 3 to tie up to the dock and then be repaired prior to heading North again bound for France.
Clearly the ten men are very disappointed after this ten and a half day planetary adventure. The trimaran had confirmed her fantastic performance by racking up over 700 miles on her way down the North Atlantic and by considerably improving on her own reference time between Ushant and the equator: 5 days 15 hours 23 minutes!
At the point the damage occurred, Groupama 3 still had a 345 mile lead over Orange 2 (that is over half a day) and was making headway at an average speed in excess of 25 knots, on a direct course towards the Kerguelen archipelago. Having hooked onto a Brazilian low on Sunday, after a particularly slow weekend, Franck Cammas and his nine crew were fast approaching the Roaring Forties.
They have since been stopped dead in their tracks but, as Franck highlights, they’re more motivated than ever to effect repairs and set off again as soon as possible this winter for another attempt.
Groupama 3 (Photo by Yan Zedda)
After eight days at sea, Groupama 3 is currently in a transition phase, which is causing her to lose part of her lead over the reference time in the Jules Verne Trophy. However, this passage across a ridge of high pressure is only set to last a little less than 24 hours and Franck Cammas and his crew are still managing an average speed in excess of 23 knots…
Getting around the Saint Helena High is always a key moment during the Jules Verne Trophy as it’s not easy to know, just a matter of hours away, how the gusts of hot Brazilian air will transform into a stormy depression system and head off towards South Africa. This is especially true when you have to set out from Ushant, nearly 5,000 miles away! In fact, the weather window heralding the start of this particular record attempt on 5th November, collectively chosen by the onshore weather router Sylvain Mondon from Météo France, Groupama 3′s navigator Stan Honey and in the final instance by skipper Franck Cammas, forecast a series of disturbances forming off Brazil. However, there is clearly a margin of error in knowing exactly where the point of impact will be. In reality, this margin of error has proved to be fairly slim since the encounter is due to take place from Saturday morning off Rio de Janeiro…
The counterpart to the Azores
However, in meteorological terms, Saint Helena is as renowned in the Southern hemisphere as the Azores is in the North Atlantic! Indeed year round, this austral isle and this northern archipelago are associated with anticyclones, which are relatively stable centres of activity involving high pressure. Situated in the inter-tropical zone, their positions vary relatively little from season to season, but they fluctuate with each day that passes according to the passage of depressions which push them along, compress them, shift them about and occasionally split them in two… However, the Azores High is more `volatile’ than its austral counterpart Saint Helena, which is due to the configuration of the terrestrial landmass which surrounds them, as well as the size of the ice cap covering the North and South poles.
Indeed, the differences in pressure are due to the thermal contrast, which marks the polar cold and the equatorial heat. As the Earth rotates around itself, it drags along its adjacent atmosphere and this movement, under the influence of the Coriolis force (diverting of a mass moving towards the right in the Northern hemisphere, and towards the left in the Southern hemisphere), causes a mixing of the hot and cold air masses. This helps to smooth the global temperature thanks to these thermal exchanges between the depressions and the anticyclones.
In this way, the Saint Helena High generates a tradewind system which rotates anticlockwise from this volcanic island which roughly marks its centre. The S’ly air flow along the coast of Africa (Namibia, Angola) turns towards the SE in the Gulf of Guinea and beneath the Doldrums, before rotating round to the E near Brazil, the NW level with the island of Trinidad and ultimately W in the Roaring Forties! This massive circulation thus forces the sailors coming from Europe bound for the Indies (or setting off around the world), to go right around the Western limit of this zone of high pressure, so as not to get caught up in the calm zones which reign at its centre.
Bruno Jeanjean Announces Equator Crossing ( Photo Courtesy of Team Groupama)
Beneath the Southern Cross
This Friday lunchtime, Lionel Lemonchois indicated at the radio link-up that this short Brazilian detour wasn’t spoiling the atmosphere onboard in the slightest, as it only amounted to a few tens of miles lost, which were going to simply modify the manner in which they sail.
“We have discussions on a daily basis about what’s going to happen over the coming hours: in a nutshell, it’s already been three or four days that we’ve known how the weather conditions in the Southern Atlantic are going to pan out. As such we’re not surprised that we’re losing ground this Friday, even though we’re still sailing well this lunchtime. On a circumnavigation of the globe, you can’t make up ground everyday. There are transition phases like this one today, but the next stage is shaping up to be pretty good… We also have a little room for manoeuvre in relation to Orange 2! However, we’ll soon be getting out our boots and fleeces: we’re losing a little heat every night. At the moment, we’re carrying all the sail aloft with full mainsail, staysail and large gennaker. We’re slipping along nicely with fourteen knots of wind beneath a glorious sun. At night, the canopy of heaven is dotted with stars, while the Southern Cross is getting ever higher in the sky!”
Just minutes later, Groupama 3 was beginning to bend her trajectory southward, and then progressively SE, whilst still maintaining an average speed of over 22 knots. Clearly, in accounting terms, the overall performance figures are less flattering since this course 60° off the direct route since the latitude of Recife, has seen them lose ground: 380 miles VMG over 24 hours along the Jules Verne Trophy course, but still a daily total of 550 miles across the water! In short, the reduction in terms of bankable mileage is going unnoticed on board, it’s only in relation to Bruno Peyron’s course that there is some discrepancy. Indeed, it is worth noting here that Franck Cammas and his nine crew have been on a route which is virtually parallel to that of Orange 2 since crossing the equator; the latter of which was achieved nearly 5° further out to the West. Between now and Saturday lunchtime, the slow haemorrhage (30 mile deficit in 48 hours or a differential of 0.6 knots) will be totally cauterised by the powerful N’ly winds forecast…
Hanging a left…
In fact there has not been a hint of concern in the voices of the crew speaking at the radio link-up since setting out from Ushant: the atmosphere onboard is serene and concentrated, relaxed yet attentive. Groupama 3 hasn’t suffered and the crew have been able to rest in the current mild weather prior to the wintery climes of the Deep South … Indeed with the seas abating, pushed along by a moderate breeze on the beam, Franck Cammas and his men have scheduled in a complete check-up for the rig on Saturday morning, prior to the arrival of the Brazilian low. A torrid, bracing weekend is in store!
“We’re into a good rhythm because Groupama 3 is designed in such a way that we can rest. The days pass by quickly between sleep, a few odd jobs, a few hours at the helm and on watch, and contemplation of the sea. However, we’re not inundated with maintenance work… There’s just one line which is becoming a bit worn on the descent control for one of the foils. We’ve only had nice surprises so far: we’ve even had some real laughs! We’re lucky to be on a very fine boat… with a superb crew where there is mutual trust between us. For the time being, we’ve got some fairly good conditions for slipping along in. The Jules Verne Trophy is a marathon above all else: we’re going to have to keep it going over the long term and from this point of view, Franck (Cammas) has an approach which is very similar to that of Bruno Peyron, which involves a great deal of wisdom” concluded the winner of the Route du Rhum 2006.
The crew and organisation aboard Groupama 3
• Watch No.1: Franck Cammas / Loïc Le Mignon / Jacques Caraës
• Watch No.2: Stève Ravussin / Thomas Coville / Bruno Jeanjean
• Watch No.3: Fred Le Peutrec / Lionel Lemonchois / Ronan Le Goff
• Off watch navigator: Stan Honey goes up on deck for manoeuvres
• Each watch lasts three hours
• One watch system on deck, one watch on stand-by ready to help manoeuvre, one watch totally resting
The record to beat
Currently held by Bruno Peyron on Orange 2 since 2005 with a time of 50 days 16 hours 20 minutes at an average of 17.89 knots. Lionel Lemonchois, Ronan Le Goff and Jacques Caraës were aboard at the time.
