[Source: Groupama Sailing Team] It’s probably the most stressful leg Franck Cammas and his crew have experienced to date! Indeed, from the start in Itajai some 17 days 07 hours 29 minutes ago, Groupama 4 got left behind due to the breeze kicking in from the front of the fleet, favouring the leaders, who subsequently amassed a lead of as much as 157 miles offshore of Brazil… However, the French never gave up and gradually managed to catch up with and then overtake Abu Dhabi before the Antilles, before attempting a courageous option, which bore fruit when the Spanish had to gybe to reposition themselves offshore of the Turks and Caicos Islands.

Uncertainty right to the finish

Though the American and New Zealanders proved to be impregnable leaders, Groupama 4′s position was again threatened when the Spanish passed to the East of Cat Island whilst Franck Cammas and his men were trapped in a zone of calms to the West. The separation between the two boats compressed to less than two miles before the breeze finally deigned to kick back in over the Bahamas. With a lead of just ten miles as they rounded Eleuthera Island, 130 miles from the finish, the duel was still wide open as the crews had yet to negotiate the Gulf Stream current and a wind which was shifting round to the South-West as it eased. Telefonica tried to pull one last move by moving across to windward, but Groupama 4 still managed to make the finish in Miami with a 37-minute lead!

“We’re obviously frustrated because we weren’t able to battle it out for the top spot for three weeks, which was hard to bear. Fortunately, the final week proved to be more positive, when we overtook Abu Dhabi and then Telefonica: ultimately we did a really good job in terms of the overall standing. We ended this sixth leg on a positive note, but we got off to such a bad start that we wondered what we were doing here for ten days or so! However, we managed to stay calm and focused on getting the boat to make headway as we waited for a possible opportunity to come our way. We didn’t do well over the first days of racing: we didn’t have a good feeling with the boat and we certainly didn’t have the trimming sussed. We managed to get back into the fight thanks to a few good decisions, which fired our motivation again. We’ve finished ahead of the Spanish, who always sail very well, even though it was a very close run thing right up to the finish! On a physical level it was the easiest leg we’ve had, despite the heat, but it was also the most stressful since the start of the race in Alicante… The overall standing has bunched together as four boats are still in with a chance of outright victory in Galway: everything is still open and the battle will continue!” commented Franck Cammas at the finish in Miami.

“Mentally it’s been the toughest leg since the start of the Volvo Ocean Race! What I really like is that I’ve learnt something different on every leg, and particularly at the end here, where we managed to get back into the fight thanks to two fine options by Jean-Luc Nélias and Franck Cammas. To keep ahead of a crew like Telefonica, you really have to dig deep… Even yesterday evening, we were making 1.2 knots in 1.2 knots of breeze: we were in despair! In the Gulf Stream too, we still had everything to lose as we were caught up in a very big squall, which could have turned the result on its head. It’s fortunate that the race ended on a positive note like this because it will give the crew a massive boost,” explained Thomas Coville, watch leader on Groupama 4.

“There was a huge amount of seaweed around the Bahamas, which got caught around the rudders and the keel, slowing the boat. Usually you go into reverse at times like that, but conditions were excellent and as the boat wasn’t going too fast, it was quicker to jump into the water and remove it by hand! It wasn’t an ordeal given the temperature of the water… It wasn’t easy to remain quick when you suffer the setback of being last. We’re satisfied with the result, but we’re disappointed to have sailed the majority of the race at the back of the fleet. Fortunately, there were some opportunities in the poorly established tradewinds,” commented Charles Caudrelier in Miami.

Standing in the sixth leg between Itajai and Miami
1-Puma (Ken Read) : 17d 01h 13′ 59 (30 points)
2-Camper (Chris Nicholson) : 17d 02h 21′ 24 (25 points)
3-Groupama 4 (Franck Cammas) : 17d 07h 29′ 03 (20 points)
4-Telefonica (Iker Martinez) : 17d 08h 06′ 38 (15 points)
5-Abu Dhabi (Ian Walker) : 17d 16h 57′ 37 (10 points)
6-Sanya (Mike Sanderson) : DNS (0 points)

(Provisional) overall standing after this sixth leg
1-Telefonica (Iker Martinez) : 1+30+6+29+2+27+6+20+1+25+2+15 = 164 points
2-Groupama 4 (Franck Cammas) : 2+20+2+18+5+24+2+30+4+20+6+20 = 153 points
3-Camper (Chris Nicholson) : 4+25+5+24+4+18+3+15+6+15+5+25 = 149 points
4-Puma (Ken Read) : 5+0+4+19+3+17+5+25+5+30+4+30 = 147 points
5-Abu Dhabi (Ian Walker) : 6+0+3+10+6+14+4+10+2+0+3+10 = 68 points
6-Sanya (Mike Sanderson) : 3+0+1+5+2+5+1+5+3+0+0+0 = 25 points

Volvo Ocean Race – Leg 6 – Day 13: It’s a bit too calm onboard Groupama

The cards have been dealt and Groupama 4 hasn’t picked up a good hand! Within the space of a matter of miles, when Telefonica was still within sight on Wednesday, Franck Cammas and his crew saw the Spanish boat head off beneath a cloud and inexorably make good their escape over the horizon. Over on the shores of Brazil, Camper and Abu Dhabi have finally benefited from a more regular breeze to make up ground on the American leader. In the space of 36 hours, the separation as regards Puma has climbed from 30 miles to 100 miles…

Off All Saints Bay!

This Friday afternoon, Groupama 4 was sailing offshore of Salvador de Bahia, 175 miles to the East of the famous All Saints Bay: the tradewinds are in position but are only generating around ten knots of breeze. This breeze is rolling in from the ENE for the French boat, whilst it has already nearly clocked right round to the East for the leading group, hence the difference in speed of nearly a knot, which is further extending the deficit in terms of longitude… However, nothing can be done about it, as the route northwards is a direct one for getting up around the Brazilian coast and there are no options in sight for a number of days.

As a result, Franck Cammas and his men are having to ‘make do with it’ and are focusing on boat speed, as this easterly breeze hasn’t yet stabilised properly: clouds, light patches and wind shifts translate as constant trimming for those on deck, as well as some headsail changes ranging between the Code 0 and the G-1 genoa. As such, playing the waiting game and focusing on the next stage of the course is the current game plan aboard Groupama 4. This is especially true given that the frontrunners are set to be further favoured by the rotation of the tradewinds to the South-East, from tonight (local time), and their subsequent increase in strength as they approach Recife.

A major asset

Seemingly the situation isn’t a positive one for Groupama 4 then, which will continue to lose ground until at least as far as the equator, which is the equivalent of the next 600 miles and hence the end of the weekend. Indeed off Recife, the frontrunners will hit around a dozen knots of breeze, which will pick up to over 18 knots offshore of Natal (North-East tip of Brazil), where the equatorial oceanic current will push the boats along to the North-West at one to two knots quicker. As such there really aren’t any opportunities on the horizon prior to the Doldrums, which are situated from 2° South to 2° North. However, aside from very thick cloud cover, which may generate squalls and calm conditions, the Doldrums isn’t really developed or very active. For this reason, it will only cause the leaders to stall briefly, before they manage to hook onto the tradewinds in the northern hemisphere.

However, Franck Cammas and his men do have one thing on their side: Groupama 4 is the fastest boat of the fleet on a reach in over fifteen knots of breeze, and this card can be played once the French boat approaches the Brazilian coast offshore of Recife. However, we shouldn’t delude ourselves: their deficit in relation to the frontrunner will further increase over the coming hours and isn’t likely to begin to stabilise until the weekend. As far as closing this gap is concerned, we’ll have to wait until early next week for the effect of the ‘reaching performance’ to kick in…

Standing in the sixth leg between Itajai and Miami, on 27 April at 1300 UTC

1 – Puma 3,555.5 from the finish
2 – Camper 14.7 miles from the leader
3 – Telefonica 27.8 miles from the leader
4 – Abu Dhabi 42.8 miles from the leader
5 – Groupama 104.1 miles from the leader

Leg 6 – Day 2: Onboard Groupama

First training session for Groupama in Itajaì

[Source: Groupama Sailing Team] 23 days 12 hours 58 minutes and 44 seconds: such is the final race time for this leg between Auckland and Itajai, via Cape Horn. For the actual time at sea, you have to deduct 61 hours 46 minutes of suspended racing following Groupama 4′s dismasting, just as she had gained the upper hand over the Americans on Puma, offshore of Rio de la Plata. As such, it’s a huge relief for all the shore team and sailing team to have managed to recover the whole of the rig and to have rebuilt a new spar so as to cover the remaining 650 miles between Punta del Este and Itajai.

A deserved podium place

Franck Cammas and his crew perfectly negotiated the trickiest and toughest part of the Volvo Ocean Race by being the first to round Cape Horn, after enduring over eight days of an extremely long and violent austral storm. The climb up the Argentinean coast was the opportunity for an intense and superb duel between the French and the American boats. Indeed for four days, Groupama 4 and Puma were continually jockeying for position at the head of the race, where they were sailing within sight of each other! And whilst the two VO-70s were beginning the final sprint to the finish offshore of Uruguay, together with a Spanish crew who had performed a dazzling comeback after a pit stop behind Cape Horn, Groupama 4′s mast broke just below the first set of spreaders…

This incredible suspense was cut short at that point as Franck Cammas and his men suspended racing to make for Punta del Este to effect repairs. In a little less than three days, the shore team had managed to recover and adapt the upper section of spar to assemble an 18m-high jury rig. In this way, Groupama 4 was able to complete this fifth leg and secure third place, Sanya and Abu Dhabi having retired due to damage and Camper having had to make a pit stop in Chile to reinforce her bow. In fact the latter is just about to round Cape Horn (early on Wednesday) as Groupama 4 was making it into Itajai…

Groupama clinch third place in Leg 5. Itajaì, 10 April 2012. Photo copyright Paul Todd / Volvo Ocean Race

Quote from the boat

Franck Cammas, skipper of Groupama 4

“To finish third in Itajai isn’t too bad, even though we had slightly higher, more fulfilling ambitions a week ago than to finish the leg under jury rig! This result enables us to remain in contact with the leaders in the overall standing, since the Spanish are just twenty points ahead. It remains a big disappointment, but part of that sentiment has been erased by the work the shore team and the sailing team did in Punta del Este. We can be proud of what we’ve achieved and I think we’ve come out all the stronger from this.
Heroes? We’re not heroes. I just hope that we’re good sailors… We’re still in a positive phase and as skipper, I won’t have any difficulty in remotivating the crew for the next leg. We still have some very clear and very ambitious objectives: we’re going to rig up our spare mast, which is due to arrive in Brazil soon. We’ve proven during this tough leg that we’ve sailed well and there’s no reason why we shouldn’t perform just as well in the next stage…”

Standing for the fifth leg from Auckland-Itajai

1-Puma (Ken Read): 19d 18h 09′ 50
2- Telefonica (Iker Martinez): 19d 18h 22′ 28
3- Groupama 4 (Franck Cammas): 23d 12h 58′ 44
4- Camper (Chris Nicholson): 2,100 miles from the finish
DNF: Abu Dhabi (Ian Walker)
DNF: Sanya (Mike Sanderson)

Overall standing after five oceanic legs and five In-Port races

1-Telefonica (Iker Martinez) : 1+30+6+29+2+27+6+20+1+25 = 147 points
2-Groupama 4 (Franck Cammas) : 2+20+2+18+5+24+2+30+4+20 = 127 points
3-Camper (Chris Nicholson) : 4+25+5+24+4+18+3+15+6+15* = 119 points
4-Puma (Ken Read) : 5+0+4+19+3+17+5+25+5+30 = 113 points
5-Abu Dhabi (Ian Walker) : 6+0+3+10+6+14+4+10+2+0 = 55 points
6-Sanya (Mike Sanderson) : 3+0+1+5+2+5+1+5+3+0 = 25 points

*Subject to Camper finishing this fifth leg.

They shouldn’t be the unsung heroes of Groupama’s swift repair after their dismast. The Yacht Club Punta Del Este went to great lengths to help the French team get back to racing as soon as possible, with no other interest than help “the sport of Sailing and the Sailors”. We thought it was right for them to be able to tell their story. Here’s the email we received from the Yacht Club Punta del Este:

Hello V Sail;

First I would like to thank you and congratulate to you for your Blog and all the information you share with us, readers, we learn a lot from your posts, interesting information always and fresh.

On another hand I just wanted to write to you to tell the world that Groupama has been in Punta Del Este as you all know working trying to go back into the race and get to Itajai to get their points.

This is all well known by everyone who follows the race, but what I want to tell you all is that from the moment the Groupama Team contacted the Yacht Club Punta de Este to let them know that their had lost the rig and that the boat was heading to Punta del Este to stop for repairs, a lot of things had happened that are not seen in the video nor the reports you can read in the web around, as the most important thing is the Groupama Team is back in the race sailing to Itajai.

The personnel and authorities from the Yacht Club Punta del Este where working since they know about in trying to find solutions and finding the needs and requests from the Groupama Shore Team that was in contact with them to be able to organize things to repair the boat, meanwhile the Groupama yacht was trying to reach Punta del Este a big storm passed through the area which make the arrival of the yacht more dangerous at night with strong winds.

Finally they where safe at port and after that they were invited to go to the Yacht Club to have some hot meals and be able to get a proper shower and sleep at their rooms, after they left things organized talking to their Shore team that was delayed due to the stormy weather in Barsil and though arriving next day at noon.

Groupama 4 was able to be back in the race in record time thanks to the invaluable help from the locals. Punta del Este, 6 April 2012. Photo copyright Yann Riou / Groupama Sailing Team

The Yacht Club Punta del Este organized the crane and tools they need and also gave them some resin and other stuff for the repair. The Yacht Club Punta Del Este make all efforts in trying to support the Groupama Team so the crew can go back out to sail again, doing this with no other interest than the one their always had ” The sport of Sailing and the Sailor”

This Yacht Club was in the past the stopover for the Withbread for 5 times and was the only port where the race stop twice in the tour around the globe, it has been the stopover for many other ocean offshore sailing races and inshore regattas as well like world championships and continental regattas for many international classes.

Their main objective is to teach the young sailors how to sail a boat and if they like to continue how to race on them as well.

Just wanted to let you all know that the Stop in Punta del Este of Groupama has been a challenge to the city and their people who where watching them and wishing them success and that everything they asked once they arrived to Punta del Este was in the first priority for the authorities and people.

Hopefully we can keep our dream of receiving the race again here where they use to come some years ago, and we will all work in trying to make it happen.

Hope I did not make this too long… but just wanted to let every other know the dark side of the history that is never told.

Uruguay Natural

[Source: Groupama Sailing Team] Life can be cruel at times. Whilst some are indulging their passion, namely racing, others are up to their elbows in carbon and textile fibres. Kept regularly informed of the battle in which Puma and Telefonica are involved, Franck Cammas and his men are putting all their energy into the construction of their new rig despite a sense of desperation.

Having got rid of the section of mast that remained in place during the dismasting, Groupama 4 was kitted out with the longer section of recovered spar just a few minutes ago: “We’ve used the larger section of mast, so as we can benefit from a greater sail area. It wasn’t easy to do but we’ve managed it. It’s even equipped with one spreader. It has a certain elegance about it. The mainsail is in place, rolled down to the third reef, without the boom.

There are three stays in front, so as to be able to choose different sail configurations according to the strength and direction of the wind over the end of the course”, explains Thomas Coville, contacted at 1600 UTC.

Like his teammates, Thomas cannot conceal a certain degree of bitterness at finding himself here, dockside in Punta del Este: “The first two are thirty miles from the finish. If we hadn’t dismasted, we’d probably be around fifteen miles ahead of them. We’ve been very strong in three legs now and we’re not reaping the rewards of that performance. It’s not over yet though and that’s why we’re battling”, adds the watch leader.
Whilst the shore crew and some of the sailing team are finishing up with the inevitable adjustments and trimming, others are analysing the weather conditions: “There’s 20 to 25 knots of easterly breeze and quite lumpy seas to get back to the geographical position where we suspended racing, some 60 miles offshore. Even under power that’s no mean feat. However, according to Jean-Luc (Nélias, the navigator), things should calm down over the course of the evening”, concludes Coville.

Whatever happens, there is still a long way to go and the race for third place is the main focus. Groupama 4′s crew is aware of this and the task ahead is as original as it is difficult. Life at the extreme as the organisers are fond of saying….