Leg two updates

[Guest]

and the last video from me for today is the volvo video

 

[Guest]

Sanderson: “We’ve got our hands full because now there is an inherent issue with our rigging solution."

[Kestrahl 6]

Well it is a Juan K boat - did we expect anything else?

 

Must be pretty depressing for the guys on Camper to get smoked by Telefonica like that. What do we think is the design difference here in tight reaching? When I talked to Nico he said Camper was fuller in the bow than the new Juan K boats.

[Guest]

Agree - must be frustrating - very similar wind angle and speed the last couple of scheds and just getting smoked by raw boat speed ( said from an armchair of course!)

[Guest]

press release time.

 

Volvo would like to call groupama 4 a French rocket ship. Groupama 4 clearly are not a French rocket ship when you look at banq pop that blasted its way through the southern ocean.

 

Franck Cammas has Groupama 4 firing on all cylinders as his team pushes the boat hard towards the Doldrum belt ahead. There is no let-up and Cammas is intent on putting as many hours as possible between his team and the chasing pack in conditions in which Groupama 4 simply excels.

 

Cammas reported this afternoon that his helmsmen are having a ball steering the boat, but the wind is on the beam, the sea is messy and the spray constantly crashing over the deck is giving the red-eyed crew a tough time. The boat is wet both on deck and down below.

 

The east south-easterly trade winds are becoming more unstable as the fleet progresses north towards the no-wind zone. It is Cammas’ plan to position Groupama 4 between the fleet and the unpredictable Doldrums, an area where a substantial lead can be very easily be swallowed up by the chasing pack.

 

However, there is no threat tonight from the four boats behind, which all lost miles on the French team between the 1600 and 1900 UTC position reports. Their nearest rival, PUMA’s Mar Mostro (Ken Read/USA) need to close a gap of 78.6 nautical miles (nm) and Read has a 10-mile buffer on overall race leader Telefónica (Iker Martínez/ESP). CAMPER (Chris Nicholson/AUS) are a further 20 nm in deficit, while Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing (Ian Walker/GBR) are a shade under 230 nautical miles in arrears. None can match the 21.5-knot average speed of the French rocket ship and only PUMA are coming close, but still a knot slower.

 

Groupama are expected to enter the ‘stealth zone’, an area where the positions of the fleet will remain undisclosed in order to protect the crews from pirate activity, on Thursday morning.

 

Meanwhile, Team Sanya remain in Madagascar where they are working to repair damage suffered to their rig on Monday while in the lead. They have suspended racing from this leg.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Volvo Ocean Race Leg 2 leaders Groupama sailing team today continue to set a blistering pace as the fleet prepare for their second Doldrums crossing within the next 24 hours.

 

Behind Groupama, Ken Read’s PUMA Ocean Racing powered by BERG and Iker Martínez’s Team Telefónica are engaged in a full blown scrap for second place, with PUMA currently having the upper hand.

 

Groupama took the lead yesterday after positioning themselves perfectly to take advantage of strong westerly winds. Ever since, the French crew have been sailing flat out, extending their lead on their nearest rivals at every position report.

 

At 1300 UTC today Groupama were 83.3 nautical miles ahead.

 

Skipper Franck Cammas said their prolonged high-speed run had been both exhilarating and exhausting for the crew who have been constantly blasted by sea water while on deck.

 

“The boat is very wet with lots of water on deck,” he said. “Plus these are wind angles where you have to change sails a lot. Luckily it’s warm on deck and inside the boat, but we are all wet.

 

“It’s fast and noisy but we are happy with our position and Groupama 4 likes these conditions.

 

“The helmsmen enjoy steering in these conditions. It’s fast and we are surfing on the waves. The others have to look backwards because the spray means they cannot keep their eyes open.”

 

With the fickle winds of the Doldrums looming Groupama have been steadily relinquishing their easterly position on the fleet in order to convert their lateral advantage into a straight line lead on the chasing pack.

 

“The race is far from over,” cautioned Cammas. “We will enter the light wind area and the fleet will compress.

 

“We had it easy until now but there will be an elastic effect for the others closer to the Doldrums.”

 

PUMA and Telefónica have rekindled their Leg 1 rivalry with just 10 nautical miles separating the two boats in terms of distance to leader and 22 nautical miles between them laterally.

 

Chris Nicholson’s fourth placed CAMPER with Emirates Team New Zealand are 116 nautical miles behind Groupama, but still very much in touch and ready to pounce on any mistakes from the boats ahead.

 

Having been the last to escape a light wind road block several days ago Ian Walker’s Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing have been playing perpetual catch up and today sit 226nm in arrears.

 

However, Walker says the Abu Dhabi crew are far from giving up on the leg.

 

“We are still pressing hard and anything can happen." he said. "We will come into the back of the fleet when they reach the Doldrums.

 

“It looks like there is a tropical wave developing across the Doldrums which could be interesting.

 

“So we remain optimistic and the main thing is to try to close them down as much as possible before we get there.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

Groupama in the Volvo Ocean Race

 

Less than 400 miles from the stealth zone set up by the Volvo Ocean Race organisers to avoid pirates, Groupama 4 has consolidated her lead over her three most dangerous rivals, who are relegated to over 80 miles astern. There is no quirky trajectory in prospect: the aim is simply to make headway North as far as the Doldrums in an easing easterly breeze...

 

It's been three days that the whole fleet have been sailing along the edge of the Mascareignes High, in an easterly breeze of just twenty knots or so, which isn't always very stable either in strength or direction. Due to her separation offshore, Groupama 4 has been able to accelerate more than her rivals, who are now trying to converge on the same point, at 67° East, so as to gradually edge into the Doldrums, which appear to be fairly wide but not very active between 10° and 5° South.

 

"These aren't easy conditions because we're beam onto the wind with a rather messy sea state: the boat's very wet! Furthermore you have to switch sails fairly quickly so as to adapt to the variations in the breeze. Fortunately the water and air temperatures are good: it's hot but we're all soaked... However, we're happy with our positioning and we're making fast headway: Groupama 4 is quick in these conditions. The helmsman is having a ball because the boat is very pleasant to drive and can surf off the waves, but the trimmers have their eyes more on the wake than up ahead because it's impossible to keep your eyes open in the constant spray."

 

An element of doubt!

 

A little unsettled by the conservative attitude of his rivals (with the exception of the Chinese boat), Franck Cammas has been able to back up his sailing method by favouring major strategic options so as to play the wind variations rather than going for small tactical coups targeted at gaining a better position as regards the fleet. Their unfortunate experience of the first leg has done nothing to dampen the vision of the crew of Groupama 4.

 

"We found ourselves sailing on our own again in the front! As such we joined back up with the main group because the conditions weren't easy to follow. After that though, we found a way out via the South. I think that the other crews focus more on a short term strategy because we couldn't understand why nobody followed us when we set off towards the South-East for the third time... On exiting the front and with the separation we acquired as a result, we've benefited from a better angle to make headway North over the past three days. Now we're gradually going to latch onto light airs and it's likely that the whole fleet will bunch up again on crossing the equator. It's true that we're beginning to get a bit of a complex by dint of constantly doing our own thing... However, our confidence has been boosted now as regards the way we're tackling the strategy, and that's remotivated the crew!"

 

Change of approach

 

However, with the approach of the Doldrums looming, Franck Cammas and his crew will modify their approach in relation to their rivals: as there is no meteorological phenomenon set to disturb the course, the aim above all is to traverse the Inter-Tropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) as quickly as possible, in the knowledge that the area isn't as active as it can be in the Atlantic. As such they will have to favour a direct route, at 20° to the `secret' port and play with the wind variations and clouds along the way as they climb up towards the equator.

 

"The best tactic is to remain between our rivals and the finish. As such we're going to try to gradually slip along, following their trajectories. However, the Doldrums remain a hazardous zone, which can just as easily favour the leaders as the pursuers. Added to this, you can't really rely on the grib files in the area! You just have play your opportunist card, making the very most of the clouds and squalls in the area. It's not a region I'm familiar with, but the same is true for the others..."

 

From this afternoon, the tradewinds will switch round to about fifteen knots of south-easterly, which will make things more pleasant on deck. The breeze will ease to around ten knots by Thursday at noon, heralding a considerable dip in pace over the next two days, thus favouring a bunching of the fleet. If things go as forecast, it won't be until the middle of the weekend that the westerly wind of around a dozen knots will settle at around 4° South, and this will be the scenario until the finish.

[Kestrahl 6]

Agree - must be frustrating - very similar wind angle and speed the last couple of scheds and just getting smoked by raw boat speed ( said from an armchair of course!)

 

In the audio this morning Nico said they were 0.4knots slower than telefonica with the wind speed/angle and it would probably come down to different sails etc but they will try and find the extra speed for the next leg.

[Guest]

Agree - must be frustrating - very similar wind angle and speed the last couple of scheds and just getting smoked by raw boat speed ( said from an armchair of course!)

 

In the audio this morning Nico said they were 0.4knots slower than telefonica with the wind speed/angle and it would probably come down to different sails etc but they will try and find the extra speed for the next leg.

 

 

I doubt its sails. I reckon thats just an excuse for the fact that they know there boat is slow reaching and the others no it as well. If it was sails they would have known about it and done something at the end of the last leg when they got smoked by Puma and Telefonica and did you see the second port race? Camper got smashed on the reaches and they know it. Camper need light winds for them to do well as thats when telefonica come undone.

[Guest]

The drag race continues. Clearly there is one boat that is not as good as camper on this reach but the question has to be asked......Is it there bluntish bow or them not pushing the boat as hard as they can with Sanya saying they have an inherent problem with their mast (Abu Dhabi went to the same guys).

[Marshy 30]

Abu Dhabi's mast is nothing like Sanya's since Capetown. Quite different now after they got bitten in the ass once.

[Clipper 344]

is this race still going? Is there anyone out there still watchting?

 

PS go Camper!

[Guest]

Caper are on the move......even if it is only 1NM Puma are continuing to sail lower than the rest of the fleet which could hurt them later on in the game as the wind is swinging further north over the next several days.

[Guest]

is this race still going? Is there anyone out there still watchting?

 

PS go Camper!

 

Im still getting more views for each update even if people arnt commenting. the amount of people watching it or interested by it will be interesting, especially when they go to stealth mode.

[Guest]

Sucks to be the Pitman.....not my job in a round the world race

 

http://www.youtube.com/user/Camper#p/u/6/eBxq49vg8pI

[Guest]

Im still getting more views for each update even if people arnt commenting. the amount of people watching it or interested by it will be interesting, especially when they go to stealth mode.

 

Expect that No. to drop dramatically now that we're all knocking off work and leaving our computers turned off for 2-3 weeks Stevo!

 

Good work though son. See you in the New Year.

[Guest]

Stealth Zone = Epic Fail.

[rigger 47]

Stealth Zone = Epic Fail.

 

This leg is an epic fail - should have continued with the orginal format.

[Guest]

Stealth Zone = Epic Fail.

 

This leg is an epic fail - should have continued with the orginal format.

 

I wonder how many boats would have survived the southern ocean?

[Guest]

press release time. Now that the fun of this leg is almost over I am no longer going to do many position updates as we only know the distance between the boats now.

 

As Groupama 4 (Franck Cammas/FRA) led the fleet into the Stealth Zone and towards the Doldrums, there a clear difference of opinion among the fleet as to which end of the windless area will prove to be the most favourable strip to cross.

 

As Groupama 4 entered stealth mode, the team was tending to the west, with second-placed PUMA’s Mar Mostro (Ken Read/USA) now also in stealth and heading east, crossing Groupama’s tracks.

 

Telefónica (Iker Martínez/ESP), the third boat to enter stealth, and CAMPER (Chris Nicholson/AUS) are clearly intent on shooting through to the east, while Ian Walker and Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing are still formulating their plans, 187.5 nautical miles behind the leading boat.

 

“We really could do with 12 hours of sailing in more wind, which should happen and we should compress into the Doldrums,” explains skipper Ian Walker. “If we can close the lead down to 40 or 50 miles, then we are within shooting distance".

 

According to Walker, the Doldrums are reasonably narrow and have quite a lot of wind in them and it is by no means certain that the fleet will stop at all and it is less likely that Walker’s team can improve on their fifth-place position.

 

Speaking of his strategy, Walker said, “We will just follow those guys in. We will compress into the back of them, maybe setup slightly to the west so that we have a faster angle in, and then once we see what happens to them, we can reassess. We will have roughly three hours to assess and move our east west position".

 

The first three boats have already started to slow to 10 knots or so, almost half that Ian Walker’s crew who hopes to reel them back in, but Walker says it’s not just about the fleet compressing. He has to get Azzam level or even past another boat to be in with a chance of a podium finish, otherwise it is likely that Groupama 4 will just extend away on the other side of the Doldrums in the fresh westerly breeze which is waiting for them.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Leg 2 : Cape Town - Abu Dhabi

Day 11 - Winter and birthday

 

 

 

On this first day of winter in Europe, Franck Cammas is celebrating his first birthday (39th) racing at sea. As such Groupama 4's pole position can only come as a source of satisfaction to the youngest skipper in this Volvo Ocean Race! Indeed the French boat will enter into the Indian version of the Doldrums this Friday with a lead of nearly 80 miles…

 

 

 

Though winter is proving to be mild in Europe, summer in the southern hemisphere is both very hot and very wet: indeed Groupama 4 is nearly at 11° South and is gradually leaving the high pressure of the Mascareignes High behind her to confront the random mood swings of the Doldrums. Indeed this Inter-Tropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) doesn't appear to be very easy to apprehend, even though in theory it is supposed to be less ‘twisted' than in the Atlantic.

 

“I'm preparing a chocolate cake for Franck's birthday” announced Yann Riou, Groupama 4's media man, during the lunch time radio link-up this Thursday. “Together with my pressure cooker and a few eggs, which I've managed to keep cool, I'm going to make a change to the usual routine and already the aromas are more reminiscent of a patisserie and have replaced the rather vivid odours resulting from the ambient humidity. Indeed the skies are becoming overcast and decidedly grey even. It is very hot as we're closing on the Doldrums, which we're set to reach this evening…”

 

Happy birthday Franck!

 

This Friday afternoon Groupama 4 has also been the first to enter the ‘stealth' zone, an area marked out on the map by the Volvo Ocean Race organisers to combat the risk of piracy. Positioned between the Arabic peninsula, the southern tip of India and the North of the island of Madagascar, this vast expanse will no longer enable us to track the progress of the six boats as far as the finish, but the distances between the competitors will still be broadcast to the public. This ‘stealth' zone, which begins at 12° South, is also close to the Doldrums, which appear to start at around 9° South.

 

“Thanks for wishing me happy birthday! Usually I'm on land at this time of year… However, the current preoccupation is more geared around the Doldrums: it's always a fairly hazardous zone and it's hard to find the best way through. We're happy with our positioning for tackling it as we can still control the fleet behind us. We already know that our pursuers will make up some ground on us over the coming hours since we'll be the first to be slowed… We're the pacesetter and everyone will be watching where we go to get an idea of the ambience. However, it remains an enviable position: we have a lead of 80 miles with a finish lining up after around 1,000 miles. The coming days will be more complicated than in recent hours though and we could lose a lot of ground” indicated Franck Cammas at noon this Thursday.

 

Two hundred difficult miles

 

Franck Cammas has opted to traverse the ITCZ at 67° East for several reasons: first of all because an opening appears to be taking shape along this axis as a depression isobar (1008 hPa) is bending round between Sri Lanka and the Diego Garcia atoll. The south-easterly wind of around fifteen knots on Thursday morning, will ease to just ten knots or so as it gradually clocks round to the South, then the South-West at around five knots at noon on Friday. Furthermore, by remaining further to the West, Groupama 4 is giving herself the opportunity to dip back down to the North-East, ahead of her rivals, should the opportunity present itself. It's easier to luff up in the light airs and accelerate rather than bearing away under spinnaker as you slow… Finally, the third element to take into account is the rotation of the wind to the West at 7° South, followed by a gradual shift round to the North-West and then the North on approaching the equator. By positioning herself further to the West, Groupama 4 won't have to put in any tacks to complete this first part of the race.

 

“It's said that the Indian Doldrums are different to those of the Atlantic but when I asked this same question to those who traversed this zone three years ago, they told me that they'd been stuck fast for three days… It doesn't have the same shape as it's more cross-shaped with a fairly thick North-South axis, quite a way off, and an East-West branch which we're going to traverse. The exit is due North in any case! As a result we'll have to gain miles in all the squalls so as to stand a chance of being the first to exit the zone and latch onto the westerly wind near the equator.”

 

What of the wave?

 

Ian Walker, the skipper of Abu Dhabi announced that the formation of a tropical wave could reshuffle the cards as they pass through the Doldrums. In line with this, the Spanish on Telefonica and the New Zealanders on Camper have curved their route inwards over recent hours, which would suggest that they're keen to attack the ITCZ at 72° East. Indeed it would appear that another way through is opening up at 75° East, but this involves extending the trajectory with a more easterly exit from the Doldrums and hence a final beat to round off the leg.

 

“A tropical wave is a weather phenomenon, a kind of atmospheric trough, which traverses the tradewinds in the direction of the Doldrums: this generates stronger activity with southerly wind. This in turn breaks the ITCZ and enables connections between two breeze systems, and hence opens up ways through. There doesn't appear to be a very pronounced tropical wave at the moment, but there are some small elements on the files…”

 

Torrid ambience

 

“We going to pass through some fabulous areas with some very remote islands: there are flying fish at the moment, but not too much activity in the water and in the air. Added to that we're going to have even less movement over the coming days! Aboard the boat it's very hot and at times we're envious of you back in Europe... However, it's also a quiet atmosphere: it's a good thing for Jean-Luc (Nélias, navigator) and I that our option paid off after the failure in the first leg. It's always good to have confidence in oneself and in one's crew… Furthermore, we won't be cut off from the world in this stealth zone as we'll still receive all the data from the organisation.”

 

After eleven days at sea and lots of turnabouts since the start in Cape Town, the arrival in the secret port is scheduled for Monday, the day after Christmas… The question is, will there be another present for Franck and his crew at the end of it?

[Guest Rocket]

Camper has done well to get a bit of leverage on everyone except Telfonica.

 

Groupama playing bold still and heading west - strange to be sailing away from the pack - I am sure they would prefer to stay between the fleet and the finish. Still gotta trust your weather router in this stuff.... I guess they were starting to point at the other two and decided to gybe onto the making board. I presume it is light southerlies?

 

Fat lady might be waiting awhile yet

[chic014 0]

According to the latest update Camper have made up 23 miles in 3 hours and are humming a long at 20 knots