[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

[Source: Volvo Ocean Race] Groupama scored their first inshore win of the 2011-12 Volvo Ocean Race on Saturday after an uncharacteristic error from overall race leaders Team Telefónica handed them their chance in the DHL In-Port Race Itajaí.

In one of the most highly charged battles of the inshore series so far, Telefónica made a mistake while leading the fleet when they sailed the wrong way round the course.

Their slip-up, which came halfway through the race, relegated Iker Martínez’s crew to the back of the pack and ended their hopes of a third in-port win.

Meanwhile, closest rivals Groupama sailing team were given a free pass to jump into the lead, chased closely by CAMPER with Emirates Team New Zealand.

Despite constant pressure from their Kiwi/Spanish opponents, Franck Cammas’ crew on Groupama refused to relinquish their hold on the top spot, beating CAMPER by 48 seconds.

Groupama’s win takes them to 133 points, and within 16 points of Telefónica on the overall leaderboard.

Decisive victory by Groupama. Itajaì, 21 April 2012. Photo copyright Paul Todd / Volvo Ocean Race

CAMPER with Emirates Team New Zealand claimed second place and five points, finishing just one minute and five seconds ahead of PUMA Ocean Racing powered by BERG, who clawed back despite being forced to do a penalty in the opening minute of the race.

Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing finished fourth, scoring three points, while Telefónica were unable to recover from their mid-race error and finished last, claiming just two points. Team Sanya did not start and will rejoin the race in Miami.

“I’m very happy because we saw a big improvement in this kind of inshore race from where we were at in Alicante,” Groupama skipper Cammas said.

“We’ve shown we can win. It’s always the boat who makes the fewest mistakes who wins.”

CAMPER continued their in-port form with another podium finish, their fifth in six races, to keep their dreams of ascending the leaderboard alive.

“You didn’t see us set the world on fire but we didn’t make too many big mistakes,” skipper Chris Nicholson said. “We had flawless crew work — the bottom drops the guys were pulling off were fantastic and allowed us to stay in the game. It was good racing from everybody today.”

An incredible comeback from PUMA saw them recover from last place to finish just behind CAMPER.

Ken Read’s men led over the start line but a penalty from the on-the-water umpires for a rule infringement appeared to have ended their hopes of winning, sending them to the back of the fleet.

But renowned inshore racer Read clawed his way back into the race, overhauling Telefónica and Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing, and challenging CAMPER for second.

Abu Dhabi took fourth, just 36 hours after their yacht Azzam arrived in Itajaí on a container ship after suffering structural damage on Leg 5.

Telefónica were left to limp across the line in fifth, five minutes behind Groupama.

“After we rounded the windward mark it was very confusing,” explained skipper Martínez. “There were two marks and I chose the wrong one.

“It’s the first time in my life I’ve ever made a mistake like that so I feel terrible for the shore crew who had worked so hard but the good news is that we had made many improvements since the last inshore race.”

Attention now turns to Sunday’s start of Leg 6 to Miami beginning at 1400 local time (1700 UTC).

Light winds are forecast for the start of the 4,800-mile leg, but within a few hours of leaving Itajaí the breeze is expected to top 25 knots.

DHL In-Port Race Itajaí results:
1st – Groupama Sailing Team 6 points – 46min 27 sec
2nd – CAMPER with Emirates Team NZ 5 points – + 0.48 sec
3rd – PUMA Ocean Racing by BERG 4 points – +1.05
4th – Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing 3 points – + 1.33
5th – Team Telefónica 2 points – + 5.40
Did not start Team Sanya 0 points

Overall:
1st Team Telefónica – 149 pts
2nd Groupama Sailing Team – 133 pts -
3rd CAMPER with Emirates Team New Zealand – 124 pts
4th PUMA Ocean Racing powered by BERG – 117 pts
5th Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing – 58 pts
6th Team Sanya – 25 pts

First training session for Groupama in Itajaì

Statement by Juan Kouyoumdjian, designer of the Telefonica, Puma and Groupama boats in the current Volvo Ocean Race:

With our 3 boats safely in Brazil and under the risk of sounding arrogant, I’ll break away from my golden rule of not speaking until the end of the race to put the record straight since I believe we are presented with an intentional manipulation of the truth.

There is a common, spread notion that ALL the participants of this VOR have structural problems, that the situation is unacceptable and that something needs to be done for the future. A fundamental distinction needs to be done between the mast breakages and the rest, and whilst I think it is very important to understand what caused so many mast failures, it is a travesty of the truth to put ALL designs in the same basket when it comes down to the “other” structural issues.

This generalization might suit a specific Team, or person to push any agenda he might have for the future, but out of respect of the hard and serious work done with my Team I need to speak up.

In the first edition of the VO70s, we had 2 triumphs to celebrate that as designers we are very proud of. One is obviously that our design was driven to victory by a very good crew and the other one is that our 2 boats [both ABN AMRO] were the only ones that completed the full circumnavigation without major structural problems. This celebration was faded by the public generalization that because one boat sunk and others had structural failures, then ALL of the boats had problems and the rules had to be changed. Which in fact they did, for the worse!

The Puma boat is one of the three Juan Kouyoumdjian designed in the current edition of the Volvo Ocean Race. Photo copyright Amory Ross / Puma Ocean Racing

I didn’t say anything publicly then and moved on. However, seeing the same generalization occurring now, I’d like to stick to the facts and so allow for conclusions to be made without generalizations.

• A VO70 cannot be designed not to break. In fact, any boat in a round the world race cannot be designed not to break. So ultimately, breakages are in the hands of the crew.

• Puma won leg 5 without a major structural problem and this due to the excellence and experience of its crew.

• Telefonica finished 2nd in leg 5 with a hull delamination in port mid bow which did not prevent her from racing.

• Telefonica’s pit stop in Cape Horn was not a necessity but rather a very clever strategical decision based on having 3rd place assured and a weather window to exploit.

• Groupama, notwithstanding of an excellent management of the boat during leg 5 to see misfortune hit them with a broken mast, has sailed on her own means to Brazil without structural problems.

So, while we focus in understanding why there have been so many problems with the rigs, I’d beg not to generalize and avoid putting in the same basket the good work and brilliance of some engineers with that of others which are clearly not the same.

Juan Kouyoumdjian.
Valencia, April 11th, 2012.

[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.