Groupama 3 en route on the Jules Verne Trophy quest. Image copyright Yvann Zedda.
by Vincent Borde and Caroline Muller
The NE'ly tradewinds have been much in evidence since Groupama 3 gybed off Madeira on Saturday evening. With an average speed of over thirty knots, Franck Cammas and his crew are diving due South towards the equator, which they are set to cross early this coming week.
It promised to be a good weekend: it should be an excellent one! Indeed 700 miles in 24 hours is on the programme this Sunday as Groupama 3 is benefitting from some very stable conditions with a favourable angle to the wind in order to tackle this descent of the Northern Atlantic. After having to curve out a course to the West due to the gradual rotation of the wind from the NW to the NE, Franck Cammas and his nine crew gybed on Saturday, just as they completed two full days at sea, at around 1550 UT... Since then the giant trimaran has been clocking up an average speed of over thirty knots on steady seas with perfect conditions in terms of temperature.
Plot of Groupama 3's position at 1600UTC on 081109. Image copyright Cammas - Groupama.
Groupama 3's course outside the islands of Madeira and the Canaries, in contrast to the record holder in 2005 who opted for a route down the inside, has paid off, since it avoids the disturbance caused by the islands, as well as the shipping and the manoeuvres. Logically, this offshore tack on port tack should extend down as far as the Doldrums, which don't appear to be overly active at the moment. Already at the latitude of the Canaries this Sunday morning, Franck Cammas and his crew are likely to be sailing off Cape Verde from Monday morning! And they should then be in a position to negotiate the Doldrums the following night... As such the objective of crossing the equator within six days of the start remains completely topical.
Cammas - Groupama
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