After a week of very rough weather, Franck Cammas and his men are settled nicely into position at the head of a fleet, which has been partly decimated by the austral depression that it has been following in around thirty to sixty knots of south-westerly wind. After circumnavigating the ice zone this Tuesday morning, Groupama 4 may well gybe this evening (European time) and is currently sailing under one reef mainsail and storm gennaker, on seas which are becoming more organised. The crew will still have to be on their toes though as the crossing waves pose a real threat at 55° South !

“We’d have liked things to have been easier, but it’s everything we imagined it would be. We had a hard night with very heavy seas once more. We had to ease off the pace to spare both the boat and the men. It’s been the harshest week since the start of the Volvo Ocean Race. Survival mode had the upper hand over race mode. The water is 5°C at the moment : roll on the time when we’re past Cape Horn and beginning our climb, as we’re quite late in the season and it’s not the most pleasant time to be sailing in the South Pacific !” said Franck Cammas during the videoconference at noon this Tuesday.

In over thirty knots of breeze and a sea which picks up to nearly eight metres at times, the most inconvenient thing is the cold : the ice zone is just a few hundred miles from Groupama 4. Sometimes the temperature of the sea water falls below 5°C, confirming the proximity of the icebergs. However, this is all now behind the French boat. As such Wednesday promises to be more pleasant, though it won’t really be any warmer ! The breeze will ease slightly (below 30 knots) and the waves will become less vicious the closer Franck Cammas and his crew get to Cape Horn. The wind is also set to shift round to the North-West over the coming hours, which will be another thing in their favour. The wind won’t be as cold and the sailing angle on the way to Drake’s Passage will be more favourable.

“The ice limit prevented us from being tempted to adopt a more southerly course towards the centre of the depression. As it was, this limit kept us clear of the stronger breeze and the heavier seas. It was one less thing to worry about as we didn’t even have to weigh up whether or not to sail through the ice. However, we’re not very far from the icebergs : Jean-Luc Nélias showed us two big ones to the West of us. Together with Puma we were able to just skirt along this limit. Since then we’ve rehoisted the heavy gennaker and we’ve got a clear road to Cape Horn.”

As regards the race, Franck Cammas and his men have made a few concessions over the past day, which can be explained in two ways : first of all it was necessary to respect the virtual Eastern Ice Gate, which forced the successive helmsman to sail as close to the wind as they can so they don’t have to gybe. Secondly, their position as leader enables them to better manage the crew’s efforts so as to give them a chance to rack up some rest time and revive their bodies. Though Puma is just thirty-five miles astern, the Americans will now have to try and match the steady pace which Groupama 4 is preparing to set…

“The breakage comes as no surprise to me. We too had an issue with the bow before we made Auckland. It’s a zone which is under a massive amount of pressure in the cross seas. You have to make between 18 and 20 knots in order to keep pace, which is bound to be risky for the structure. Since the start, the conditions have been very hard for the boats, particularly in the area forward of the mast. Obviously it’s a shame that the other competitors are handicapped by breakage, but that’s the name of the game in the Volvo Ocean Race.

We’ve been sparing with Groupama 4 since the start but that hasn’t stopped us from incurring damage ourselves, especially the first night with our issue with the storm jib swivel. As a result of that, we’ve had to deal with a leak where the ram passes through the deck up forward : we had at least a tonne of water up forward when we were sailing with eased sheets towards the Southern Ocean… After that Phil Harmer injured his shoulder on two separation occasions : he’s not sure if he’ll be able to do the next leg. We’re carrying out regular check-ups up forward, around the mast and on the hull, to make sure everything’s okay and that there are no leaks. Basically, we’re still behind the centre of the depression and that’s not the best situation to be in : it would be better to be in front of it ! We’ve had cross seas for the past week, with continual but very fluky wind in the squalls, which is likely to last till Cape Horn. You have to be very concentrated at the helm… We’re all a bit stressed.”

There are still three days of lively sailing on the cards before the French boat can hang a left towards Brazil ! Though tomorrow, Wednesday, is set to be pretty quick and a bit more comfortable aboard Groupama 4 (everything’s relative !), Thursday evening is shaping up to be less favourable. Indeed a fresh depression is rolling in from the North-West and will pass Cape Horn at the same time as the two leaders. A fairly violent front is likely to sweep across the zone as the Andes cordillera looms, which is never a good thing. The upshot of this will be a succession of squalls and the seas will be very messy due to the shallower sea bed. As such it will be better to attack Drake’s Passage via the South-West rather than the West. However, this phenomenon will roll through very quickly, leaving behind it a few clouds to the North-West and around 25 to 30 knots of breeze.

“We hit 32 knots in one surf Surf #Surf , but it wasn’t our aim to see who could get the best score ! We’ve always retained a reasonable sail area and it’s harder to go gently than to go fast… These aren’t the kind of conditions for breaking speed records : you have to be flexible in this style of sea, as you would on a multihull. The experience we gleaned on the trimaran Groupama 3 is unquestionably a bonus as we’re used to finding the right tempo to avoid danger. Monohulls are heavier and withstand greater stresses by being less flighty. As such we’re not pushing the boat full pelt and for the past 24 hours for example, we haven’t been canting the keel right over to windward so as to reduce the loadings. However, at the helm, we’re often really enjoying it, because we’re in the lead and you don’t get to sail in conditions such as these everyday. The daytime is always better than the night, where you can’t see a thing ! Getting a fifteen-tonne boat slipping along on a ten-metre wave is fabulous…”

- info presse www.cammas-groupama.com/fr/