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2010/03/14-09h20
At the line...
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| Jules Verne Trophy 2009 - 2010 |
| Franck Cammas and his nine crew should cross the equator at around 0900 UTC this Sunday. In so doing Groupama 3 will have
a deficit of a day in relation to the reference time set by Orange 2 in 2005. However, the ascent of the Atlantic is shaping
up to be pretty favourable for completing this Jules Verne Trophy record attempt.
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Bruno Peyron and his crew took 40d 19h 05' in 2005 to cross the equator a second time, but her final sprint to Ushant proved
more laborious since Orange 2 beat the round the world record in a time of 50d 16h 20'. As such the 3,350 miles between the
equator and the finish were only covered at an average speed of 14.75 knots, which equates to 9d 11h 15' and was hence the
slowest phase for the maxi-catamaran... Meantime Groupama 3 should have a deficit of around 24 hours on entering the North
Atlantic, which doesn't appear insurmountable given the more favourable sequence of weather systems forecast for the giant
trimaran
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The fifth element"After crossing the equator, Groupama 3 will have another four big weather systems to negotiate:
- the first
is the inter-tropical convergence zone stretching across from Africa to South America, around 120 miles to the North of the
equator. This zone, which is characterised by stormy squalls adjoining flat calms, is always tricky to approach due to the
sudden fluctuations in the wind.
- the second weather element is the established NE'ly tradewinds stretching across
the whole of the tropical section towards the latitude of the Canaries.
- the third element is the Azores High, whose
centre is forecast to be located between the Azores and Portugal as Groupama 3 enters the edge of its ridge of high pressure
which stretches towards the SW. With the winds being very light at the centre of the anticyclone, a W'ly rounding is compulsory.
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the fourth element comprises a disturbed SW'ly air flow forecast to move into the whole of the North Atlantic during the course
of the week. This air flow is characterised by a circulation of disturbed systems forming offshore of the North American continent
and then circulating towards Ireland. These systems are set to produce a steady S'ly wind as they move across, followed by
a NW'ly wind.
As such the setting for this final sprint is taking shape, but the outcome is a long way from being
decided yet. Franck Cammas and his crew still have a lot of work in store in order to get the very best from the large scale
elements on the one hand, and adapting as best they can to the small scale elements requiring constant adjustments on the
other" indicated Sylvain Mondon from Météo France
This weekend Groupama 3 has been sailing in moderate tradewinds,
which have seen some highs and lows in terms of strength, since they temporarily ran out of breath before sunset, dropping
from around fifteen knots to just ten or so. This dip in the power of the tradewinds is synonymous with the first signs of
the Doldrums, which is laying in wait just the other side of the equator. With a deficit of less than 400 miles in relation
to the reference time, their chances of making it back to the Créac'h lighthouse in under fifty days are still intact... The
crew of the giant trimaran are convinced of this and are fully concentrated on the final sprint to the finish.
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