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2010/03/01-17h18
Hunkering down in the storm
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| Jules Verne Trophy 2009 - 2010 |
| Groupama 3 has been forced to distance herself from the direct route towards the Horn in order to skirt around a very fast
low, which is circulating around sixty degrees or so South. The sea state is making the life of Franck Cammas and his men,
tough, tiring and very wet.
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Under two reefs in the mainsail and staysail, the giant trimaran is driving hard towards the ENE to avoid the most violent
zone in a disturbed system, which is tracking across towards Cape Horn at 45 knots. 80 knot (145 km/hr) winds were blowing
around Drake's Passage this Monday lunchtime!
"We're sailing in a steady wind of up to 37 knots, and the seas
are fairly chaotic and pretty big. It's not easy to negotiate... It's very wet on deck and the helmsmen are trying to protect
themselves behind the windscreen, which is in a very sad state of repair, held together by lines. There's a cross swell with
a few high waves (2-3 metres) and the boat comes to a standstill in a wave from time to time. We're being shaken about quite
a lot and it's very uncomfortable. Fatigue has set in and the manoeuvres are a lot more laborious. We're having to remain
prudent" indicated Jacques Caraës at the 1130 UTC radio-link up with Groupama's Race HQ in Paris.
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A detour to the NorthBeneath squalls but with fairly acceptable visibility, Groupama 3 is also distancing herself from the ice field which has
been pinpointed to the SW of Cape Horn. Of course this trajectory isn't ideal for completing what has been a rather aggressive
Pacific and the giant trimaran is losing miles sailing 25° from the shortest route. A little over 250 miles ahead of the reference
time this Monday lunchtime, this lead will shrink even further until the point where they put in a gybe. Added to this, Orange
2 was very quick over this section of the round the world with a VMG of thirty knots for three days...
"We're
being forced to cover additional ground by heading up to the ENE and the gybe isn't scheduled before tomorrow, Tuesday, once
the wind has shifted round to the NW. The upshot of this is a big detour to the North, but we have no other choice... We're
not getting helped along on our way to Cape Horn! The low to the South is going faster than us: it will roll over the top
of us and after the gybe we're going to have to be careful as the sea will still be very heavy. This disturbed system will
pass into Drake's Passage, leaving a very messy Pacific in its wake! We're going to lose ground but we've just got to put
up with it. We have the whole Atlantic to open up a lead after that. We know that it's going to be full-on so we're not going
to show off in a situation such as this, which isn't the easiest of passage."
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A Hard Cape indeed...As a result, the rounding of Cape Horn is now scheduled between daybreak and midday on Thursday. The difficulty for the onshore
weather router Sylvain Mondon, and the onboard navigator Stan Honey, lies in knowing what the sea state will be like and how
Groupama 3 will be able to approach this key marker in the Jules Verne Trophy. Accessing it via the North isn't going to be
easy because as the wind shifts round to the NW on Tuesday evening, this will make the favourable approach difficult to achieve
as the wind will be right on their stern...
"40 knots of wind remains manageable and we have the possibility
of reducing our sail area still further. We could even sail barepoled but I hope it won't come to that... Inside Groupama
3 things are rather noisy as we go into overdrive and then crash to a halt in the wave ahead. You constantly have to hang
on as the accelerations and decelerations are violent. We're trying to dry out our foulies, but it's not really working...
The atmosphere has changed a bit: you have to make sure you recuperate and priority is given to rest time. We're not hanging
around to chat! Everyone is protecting themselves as best they can..." concludes Jacques.
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