Putting in the Tacks as Trimarans do battle

by Franck Cammas/Groupama media on 24 Jun 2008 Putting in the Tacks... as Groupama 2 battles Banque Populaire.

Such could be today's motto for the two ORMA trimarans participating in the Record SNSM. Leading the way is the crew of Banque Populaire, who benefitted from the rounding of the island of Ushant to give their friends on Groupama 2 the slip.

Quickly contacted via telephone at around 1400 hours, Franck Cammas had this to say: 'We've finally escaped this windless zone. We now have 8 knots and it feels good to be making headway'.

The navigator has rarely seen a trimaran cover so little distance in three hours. This was of course due to the lack of wind, but also the strong tidal currents which reign in these zones, despite a high coefficient of 68. At certain points, Franck and his crew were even going backwards, incapable of passing the Créac'h lighthouse, which they set off from on 24th January 2008 on their Jules Verne Trophy.

It took them no less than 15 tack changes to round it in the end, whilst the leader needed just one, opening up a lead which may well prove decisive.

Currently off the bay of Morlaix, the two trimarans have still got a way to go before they get to the mark off Saint Malo. By tacking at speeds oscillating between 10 and 14 knots, they won't reach it before nightfall. Let's hope they find better conditions for the return trip to St Nazaire.

After being outdistanced at the passage of the island of Ushant on the climb up towards Saint Malo, the crew of Groupama 2 had no other alternative than to battle to get back in touch with Banque Populaire.

This morning it looks like a done deal as, after a day and a half's racing, the two trimarans are virtually neck and neck as they were rounding Ushant.

Opting for a series of tacks further inshore in a dying wind, Franck Cammas is continuing his comeback. Unable to contact them by telephone, we can well imagine that the crew, crouched in the back of the cockpit, are on the alert for the slightest variations in the strength of the wind or the angle of the boat in relation to this same wind.

Hunched over at his helming station, the helmsman's sole aim is to maintain the speed and therefore the apparent wind, enabling the boat to make headway whilst all around, the sea is hopelessly flat and smooth, even though it is tinged by the yellow light synonymous with the sunrise.

The eyes wrinkled, the skin darkened and the hair tousled, the crew have just a single image in their minds: to overtake the boat ahead of them. That boat has only one objective, to maintain its lead in the race.

With nearly 180 miles still to go to get to Saint Nazaire, everyone is entitled to their wishes.

The crew of Groupama 2
• Franck Cammas - skipper
• Stève Ravussin - navigator
• Loïc Le Mignon - trimmer
• Alberto Barovier - No.1 (bow), trimming
• Bruno Laurent - pitman
• Jean-Baptiste Le Vaillant - mainsail

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