(01-30-2008) - The passage of the equator is the first intermediary time, which enables a direct insight into how capable a candidate is of winning the Jules Verne Trophy. Nearly a day ahead over the round the world reference course, Groupama 3 has gained a 408 mile lead and has just achieved the best ever time by a yacht between Ushant and the equator: 6 days 6 hours 24 minutes!
Already sailing in the Southern hemisphere this Wednesday afternoon, Groupama 3 confirms what it had already demonstrated last summer when it racked up four Atlantic records: though it has no inhibitions in wind in excess of 25 knots, in relation to Bruno Peyron's catamaran, it is unquestionably the fastest giant multihull below fifteen knots of breeze! Today's new record time speaks volumes as the boat passed the equator today in six days 6 hours and 24 minutes, whilst the weather conditions weren't particularly favourable, a sure indication of the trimaran's great potential... "Groupama-3's speed is amazing whilst remaining very safe: these giant multihulls are like metronomes when you analyse the average speed at the end of the day! We made it to the equator in a little over six days, which is the best ever time to date. It's a great surprise. The weather wasn't very favourable though, with lots of wind holes, which meant we really had to struggle... I think we could have done it in five days in a good weather sequence, such as the one Francis Joyon had!" indicated Franck Cammas at the lunchtime radio session this Wednesday.
Groupama 3 crossed into the Southern hemisphere this Wednesday at 1415 hours GMT. Back on the pace again at over twenty knots at the start of the afternoon, Franck Cammas and his nine crew will begin to increase their lead over Orange II again since the latter was still sailing through the Doldrums three years ago to the day. Indeed, the tradewinds of the Southern hemisphere are shaping up nicely: with 15 knots of SE'ly at the equator, they will rapidly pass into a building E'ly. Their acceleration to over 25 knots is therefore already in view before the day is out and this is set to last until the weekend at least! "The next tactical question is the rounding of the Saint Helena High and the entry into the roaring 40's: in principle, there is an opening ahead, which the crew will doubtless be keen to grasp. If we do as well as Orange II, we'll be very happy. We don't have any inhibitions as regards the holder of the Jules Verne Trophy in the Deep South... It will simply be difficult to do better over this stretch of the course..."
In fact the maxi catamaran took 7 days 5 hours 22 minutes to reach the longitude of the Cape of Good Hope, as it benefited from a very favourable weather situation, enabling it to set a course for the SE very early on, and therefore considerably shorten the course, which normally requires boats to sail along the Brazilian coast as far as the island of Trinidad, prior to veering off towards Cape Town. Now this phenomenon seems likely to repeat itself over the Southern Atlantic, which would get Groupama 3 on track to catch an Argentinean front! In the meantime the giant trimaran is demonstrating that it has no problems with speed, especially in light airs, that it doesn't fear sailing upwind and that it can lengthen its stride from fifteen knots of true wind. This result at the equator is the first encouraging sign on the traces of Phileas Fogg and his servant Jean Passepartout...
Website of "Groupama 3":
http://www.cammas-groupama.com/
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