Groupama III: 36knots average

—Jules Verne Trophy 2009 – 2010 The long trek across the Indian Ocean has really taken off since Thursday afternoon: the speeds reached by Groupama 3 are exceeding thirty knots, indeed thirty-five knots at times… In a strong NW’ly breeze blowing offshore of the Kerguelen Islands, Franck Cammas and his men are howling with delight!

A massive line stretching over 3,000 miles is being carved out by their wake and it is set to make a practically straight link to the Pacific Ocean! Indeed the wind that has been lacking over the past few days amidst the austral islands of the Indian Ocean (Prince Edward, Marion, Crozet, Amsterdam, Saint-Paul) has finally revealed itself and is now howling along at 30-35 knots, gusting to 40 knots… In a W’ly swell favouring high speeds, the crew of Groupama 3 are nevertheless remaining prudent, since the breeze will even pick up to 45 knots this Friday and Saturday… with seas building to dish out four to five metre waves!

An average of 36.6 knots at sunset on Thursday! Franck Cammas and his nine crew have gone into overdrive since crossing through the front. Carried along by this stiff NW’ly wind, they will pass the Desolation Islands (Kerguelen) from this evening and their separation in relation to the reference time will drop to less than 200 miles since Groupama 3 is sailing almost twice as fast as Orange 2 in 2005! Already this Friday morning, the deficit has shrunk to 280 miles after dipping as low as 456 miles at 1000 UTC yesterday… The giant trimaran nudged at an 800 mile day across the water at the end of the Atlantic: this time, she should break through this legendary barrier (a feat she previously achieved during her Atlantic crossing in the summer).
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