Jules Verne Trophy Sailing Record Attempt

groupama

Franck Cammas and his nine crew on Groupama 3 have had an excellent day prior to a weekend where a rather quick passage across the Doldrums is forecast, with a switch of hemisphere as early as Saturday morning! With an average of more than 22 knots along the direct course since leaving Ushant, Groupama 3 already has more than a day’s lead over the reference time…

There is a certain sense of serenity aboard the giant trimaran: with each radio session hosted by one of the ten men on Groupama 3, it’s another point of view which testifies to the excellent atmosphere that reigns over this third attempt… This time, it’s Jacques Caraës, bowman and cameraman, who shares his delight at being at sea, flying along at an average of nearly thirty knots in the tradewinds, to the South of the Cape Verde archipelago.

“We still have good pressure and the breeze has veered round to the East a little: this Friday lunchtime we’re under full mainsail and solent jib, but we’re still making very good headway at an average of thirty knots. We’re now picking our way due South and things are calmer with the genoa: we’re just using the pilot to helm but the trimmers are on the sheets as there’s a big gust from time to time. The seas are very ordered and the skies are a little overcast…” indicated Jacques Caraës at the lunchtime radio session with Groupama’s Race HQ in Paris.

On target…

“We did well to take this window, even though the Southern Atlantic doesn’t look to be very organised to date. It’s a sport where nature guides the days, despite the high-tech equipment and the men: the weather parameter is essential and the boat is absolutely magical… You really couldn’t tire of it! For this attempt, the crew has already sailed a lot of miles together on this trimaran: there’s a superb cohesion and an extraordinary atmosphere. This attempt is likely to be the one and if nature is opening its doors to us it’s because we now know Groupama 3 like the back of our hand…”

Jacques Caraës couldn’t recall the number of times he’s traversed the Doldrums (at least a dozen times!) and recognised that he’d never had the same weather conditions twice! “It’s always different… I’ve experienced some violent, peaceful, long and short trips, but with Groupama 3, we’ve passed through very quickly each time. During the delivery from Cape Town in Lorient this winter, we didn’t even get a glimpse of it! This time it’s shaping up to be very good again because we’re positioned quite far West…”

… for the Doldrums

The point of entry is already well defined: they’re tackling the Doldrums at 4° North, between 29° and 30° West, and it should only stretch across 80 miles. This would enable a fairly short and rather moderate reduction in pace before hitting the SE’ly tradewinds to cross the equator. In fact, it is looking increasingly likely that the crew will switch hemispheres as early as Saturday morning! If this is the case it will have taken them less than six days, which would be the second best time on this round the world course…

It remains that the weather situation isn’t yet very stable off the Brazilian coast however. Dropping due South is one thing, but hanging a left to get to the Cape of Good Hope as quickly as possible is another! For the time being the high pressure is barring the shortest route so Groupama 3 may well have to take a big detour if the situation doesn’t evolve quickly.

“The Saint Helena High is taking up quite a vast amount of space over the Southern Atlantic! Things are going to get tougher for us in the descent towards the Roaring Forties, however in principle we can get as far as Cape Town without too much of a deficit on the reference time. It’s the entry into the Indian Ocean which is always a fairly brutal moment of transition!”

The crew aboard Groupama 3:

• Franck Cammas, Loïc Le Mignon, Jacques Caraës, Stève Ravussin, Thomas Coville, Bruno Jeanjean, Fred Le Peutrec, Lionel Lemonchois, Ronan Le Goff, Stan Honey.

Groupama 3’s log (departure on 31^st January at 13h 55’ 53’’ UTC)

Day 1 (1^st February 1400 UTC): 500 miles (deficit = 94 miles)

Day 2 (2^nd February 1400 UTC): 560 miles (lead = 3.5 miles)

Day 3 (3^rd February 1400 UTC): 535 miles (lead = 170 miles)

Day 4 (4^th February 1400 UTC): 565 miles (lead = 245 miles)

Day 5 (5^th February 1400 UTC): 656 miles (lead = 562 miles)

Best passage time to the equator from Ushant

Groupama 3: 5d 15h 23’ (November 2009)

Jules Verne Trophy reference time to the equator

Orange 2: 7d 02h 56’ (January 2005)

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Extreme Sailing Series

Extreme Sailing Series

First European champions, now Oman Sail Masirah is crowned champion of the Extreme Sailing Series Asia. This event was billed locally as ‘Oman Sail versus The World’ and they came out on top in style. It was a great victory on their home soil and it went to the wire with Masirah winning the final race of the Muscat event to clinch both the regatta title and take the Extreme Sailing Series Asia crown. The Wave, Muscat and China Team completed the podium in 2nd and 3rd also for the regatta and overall.

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33rd America’s Cup

Alinghi 5

The 33rd America’s Cup has been a long time coming, but after two years of litigation between Alinghi and BMW Oracle the Deed of Gift match between two of the world’s most extreme multihulls is about to take place.

Ernesto Bertarelli, Alinghi team president, speaking at the press conference on Friday evening praised his team: “The nice thing is that for the last 10 years I’ve been sailing with the same people and that has been very important to the whole experience. Three campaigns with almost the same group make each day more interesting and more rewarding. The fact that the heart of the team has been the same since the very, very beginning makes this America’s Cup campaign rewarding and I wouldn’t be here today without all the members of the Alinghi team. I’ll be helming but I’ll be sharing the helm with Loïck Peyron. Neither of us would be able to do our job without the other guys onboard and the team ashore.”

The Alinghi America’s Cup team has designed and built Alinghi 5, a 90ft catamaran on load waterline that spans 110ft overall, with a mast that towers more than 17-storeys above the sailors and settles on a foundation the size of a tennis ball. The boat has taken approximately 100,000-man-hours to build and is deeply rooted in the multihull heritage that Switzerland is so well-known for. “Designing and building Alinghi 5 has been a huge ask in such a short timeframe, and the guys on the design and shore team have done an extraordinary job in giving us this boat. Our opponent is formidable, BMW Oracle has a very good sailor in James Spithill and their boat is a credit to their design team. I speak for all of us on the sailing team when I say we are looking forward to racing and getting the sport back on the water where it belongs,” said team skipper and four-time America’s Cup winner, Brad Butterworth.

America’s Cup racing is scheduled to start on Monday, with a first race warning signal at 10:00 local time in Valencia, Spain.

Read more:

33rd America’s Cup – Looks Like We Have a Race!

Cruising in Greece

Cruising in Greece by Klearchos Kapoutsis

The lovely cruising grounds in Greece. This photo is of a sailboat at Porto Koufo, Sithonia, Halkidiki, Greece.  The area of Halkidiki is very famous for its beaches and also has the reputation to have some of the best beaches of Greece.

The Halkidiki beaches are like tropical ones with amazing crystal-clear blue or turquoise waters and long white fine sandy beaches. Halkidiki is combining those paradisiacal beaches with incredible dense vegetation and forest. The most famous beaches of Halkidiki are Kallithea, Neos Marmaras and Vourvourou.

Super Yacht Cup

super yacht

Despite the set-back of not being able to hoist any mizzen sails, Sojana managed to hold-off the rest of the fleet and win the third and final race of The Superyacht Cup Antigua 2010. Bucket ratings expert, Jim Teeters worked out Sojana’s temporary sloop rating after they suffered a broken mizzen boom on the first day, and gave them a 4 minute start advantage over second starting boat, Rebecca and a 29 minute start on Visione.

It was another windy day with plenty of action for these immensely powerful superyachts, flying full mains and maximum downwind sails, they raced around the 24 mile course in just two and a half hours. The breeze picked up on the final beat to the high 20’s and Visione closed the gap on Sojana, finishing just 51 seconds behind her. An elated Peter Harrison, owner of Sojana, cheered as he crossed the line in first place, a much improved day out for him and his crew who have played as many rounds of golf on the island as sailing races in the past few days!

Ranger and P2 had a tight battle all day, crossing tacks several times. At one point P2 looked to be clear ahead, but Ranger gained on the last upwind leg, beating them by just over 3 minutes. Throughout the three days of racing the emphasis on sailing safe has been very high on everyone’s mind and the superyacht racing protocol has been put to the test by the experts, without incident or protest.

High priority on the agenda of this friendly superyacht regatta, the social program has been a huge hit; from Pirates of the Caribbean fancy dress, to last nights all important ‘cook-off’ between the yachts, the social competitions were just as fiercely contested as the sailing. Sojana’s Captain, Marc Fitzgerald, prepared a magnificent grilled halibut and vegetable risotto while Mirabella V crew barbecued up a storm carefully supervised by the Captain ‘Dr’ Rocka.

The event closed with a grand Prize Giving Buffet dinner at the Copper & Lumber Hotel in Nelson’s Dockyard.

Super Yacht Cup Results Overall:

1st Visione – 4 points
2nd Sojana – 10 points
3rd Ranger – 10 points

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