Volvo Ocean Race - Groupama sets sail in Leg 7
by Vincent Borde on 21 May 2012
Volvo Ocean Race 2012, start of leg 7 from Miami(USA) to Lisbon(Portugal) Yvan Zedda / Groupama sailing team
The Volvo Ocean Race crew on board Groupama 4 have set off from Miami, FL, USA. The preliminary course, spanning a dozen knots or so off Miami, kicked off with very little breeze. Franck Cammas and his men are off to a pretty good start. Indeed, after setting off into this very light air at 1700 UTC, it wasn't easy to locate the very fickle veins of wind of less than five knots.
At the halfway point in the two lap round the cans section, Groupama 4 was 22 seconds shy of the Emirati leader and about a minute and a half ahead of the Spanish. However, at the end of this warm-up, there are still 3,590 miles to go to make Lisbon!
As such the French are in good spirits as once they've completed the coastal course to hook onto the Gulf Stream current, the pace is set to pick up a little as they try to latch onto a tropical low around 200 miles further North. And the first to hit the downwind conditions will be able to make good their escape…
Volvo Ocean Race website
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