Volvo Ocean Race - Groupama 4 begins descent to Cape Town

by Franck Cammas on 19 Nov 2011 Volvo Ocean Race - At 0925 GMT this morning Groupama 4 rounded the Fernando de Noronha archipelago and has started her long descent to the leg one finish line in Cape Town, which is still 3,300 miles away. In order to do this, Franck Cammas and his men will have to get around the Saint Helena High. Behind the leader, there are still some options up for grabs.

Since traversing the Doldrums, the pace has picked up on the French boat, which was able to reach the equator and the Brazilian archipelago in quick succession. Groupama 4 rounded Fernando de Noronha, the final course mark before the finish in South Africa, with a deficit of 29hr15' (365 miles) in relation to the Americans on Puma, 28hr15' compared with the Spanish on Telefonica, and 18hr45' (215 miles) compared with the New Zealanders on Camper.

This delta may appear insurmountable since it represents around 12% in relation to the two leaders, and 8% in relation to the Kiwis and the distance to travel. However, it is important to note that Groupama 4 has already been faster than her rivals over the section from the equator to Fernando! As such, Franck Cammas and his men have clawed back an hour and a half on Puma and Telefonica, and over half an hour in relation to Camper, in identical sailing conditions: 12-14 knots with the wind at 120°-130°.

Furthermore, the weather situation in the South Atlantic isn't very stable over the next three days for those competing in the Volvo Ocean Race. With the Saint Helena High being positioned very high in terms of latitude, it may even prove to be a problem in the long term, since it has a tendency to slip beneath South Africa at the moment. As a result, it may be necessary to drop down below 40° South so as to climb back up to Cape Town situated at 34°S, so it's hard to know whether they're in for a period traversing the high pressure, or whether the home straight will see light airs on their tails. In fact, the divergence in the course taken by the Spaniards, (followed by the New Zealanders), shows them already aiming for the tip of Africa, whilst the Americans are continuing to slip southwards. This would seem to suggest that there are various openings in terms of the weather for the four boats still racing.

Added to this, a weaker zone of wind, (8-10 knots), lies ahead of the leaders offshore of Salvador de Bahia. Two zones of high pressure are in the process of fusing to the East of Brazil. However, the navigators will have to await the end of the weekend for the new system to be created. The easterly tradewinds won't be as strong for the frontrunners as they are for Camper and Groupama 4. As such, there will be some compression in the fleet over the next 48 hours, which could well bring the delta down to less than 250 miles by the start of the week. Furthermore, with a steadier breeze, backing progressively the further South Franck Cammas and his crew get, the French boat may well be able to cut the corner more sharply and more speedily than her rivals: less distance to travel equates to a gain on your rivals. In this way, there are still a lot of opportunities to be had before reaching South Africa! Before all that though, the crews know that they have four days of sailing on the same tack (port), heeled over 15°, at speeds greater than fifteen knots being constantly showered with Groupama Sailing Team website