Volvo Ocean Race - Hot inside Groupama 4

by Franck Cammas on 27 Jan 2012 Volvo Ocean Race Team Groupama 4 were 4.3 miles astern of the leader on the fifth day of the second stage of leg three at the 1600 UTC position report.

With less than a day to go till the Straits of Malacca, the fleet had to deal with a major wind shift last night, which has reshuffled the cards a little. The monsoon and its cloud masses cannot always be forecast and Groupama 4 handled the resulting double change of tack pretty well.

'The weather conditions aren't all that steady, aside from the fact that we've been sailing into a headwind since setting out from the Maldives… It's a very fluky breeze: during the light airs of the first section, we had to keep an eye out for wind shifts and now that there's a steadier, albeit moderate air flow, there are some sizeable rotations. You have to remain on the look-out. Today for instance, an error in the choice of tack costs more dearly than poor trimming! Just before daybreak, there was a 40° wind shift, despite there being no sign of it on the grib files: we thought it would only last a couple of hours but ultimately we sailed due North for around a hundred miles… Before tacking, you have to reckon on ten to fifteen minutes, which is the time it takes to restack all the gear down below and the sails on deck,' indicated Franck Cammas at the noon radio link-up this Thursday.

Indeed there was nothing to suggest there would be this substantial wind shift, which led to a ballet of tack changes for the whole fleet. The runaway winner of this intricate ‘pas de deux' is Camper, which delayed launching into the merry dance until as late as possible, to end up to windward of the fleet whilst the breeze continued to veer (towards the ENE). She was the first to switch back onto an easterly heading, when the air flow returned to its usual orientation in the North-East. As such the New Zealanders have ended up the furthest to the South of the top four boats, whilst the Spanish are continuing to put all their chips on their northerly option as they approach the Straits of Malacca…

'Puma was the first to exploit this rotation as she was the furthest South, but she repositioned herself to pull level with us and Camper, then we decided that we too wanted to make the most of this shift and everyone followed suit. I think we tacked at the right time and even this afternoon (local time), we managed to get under way before the Americans, which has enabled us to snatch a few miles from Puma… She is about five miles to windward and Camper is a dozen miles to leeward of us. It's always good to have a crew like Ken Read's within sight, as it's an excellent reference and you don't fall asleep on deck! As regards performance, we're pretty happy with our lot because we've been able to close on Camper, which is very quick in the light airs. I feel that we've made progress over these past four days of racing and we're managing to hang onto them now.'

This difference of approach in terms of strategy can be partially explained by the fact that there's nothing to say that there won't be another rotation before the fleet make the tip of Pulau We. Remaining on as direct a course as possible reduces the risks involved and above all gives you the chance to reposition yourself should the weather phenomenon be repeated.

'It's necessary to anticipate the final approach towards Sumatra: the Spanish have opted to reposition themselves to windward as the breeze will shift round a bit more to the North today, but that strategy seems risky to us as we're still 250 miles from the entrance to the Straits of Malacca! As such they wouldn't be able to make use of a new wind shift… If all goes to plan, the top four boats should remain bunched when we make our entrance into this tunnel. If things pan out the way we hope, the wind will increase to over fifteen knots at the entrance to the passage between Pulau We and Great Nicobar island. We should pass it under heavy genoa (J2) from tonight and there's sure to be one last tack change before we can pass the headland. After that, things will become rather more random with the wind shadows created beneath the islands and the buffering effect in the lee of Sumatra: we'll have to get around these light patches from Friday onwards.'

Aboard Groupama 4, aside from the race, which is keeping both body and mind occupied, the main difficulty is withstanding the serious heat which is dominating this equatorial zone. With the atmosphere saturated in humidity, any moving about down below is proving tiresome and it's hard to sleep in the day. This situation should change slightly over the coming hours though, with more wind and hence more action on deck and a bit of cool air in the Straits of Malacca. The crews will have to be in great shape so they can react to the slightest puff of breeze in an atmosphere which promises to be stifling, with a light and very fickle wind…

'Our diet adapts to serious spells of heat: we use up fewer calories and we drink more because we sweat a huge amount, particularly down below aboard Groupama 4. Everyone's finding it hard to deal with and the only pleasant time is on deck at night. To get some sleep in our bunks, we're kitted up with little fans and we're lucky to have a white deck in contrast to Puma or Camper, who must be suffering even more down below on their boats.'

Positions at 1600 UTC on 26/01/2012
1. Camper 1,905.5 miles from the finish
2. Telefonica – 4.1 miles astern of the leader
3. Groupama 4 – 4.3 miles astern of the leader
4. Puma – 6.8 miles astern of the leader
5. Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing – 32.4 miles astern of the leader
6. Team Sanya – 62.2 miles astern of the Groupama Sailing Team website