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Volvo Ocean Race
Franck Cammas’ crew round-up of the round the world
vendredi 6 juillet 2012 –
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A front and the Doldrums
The In-Port race in Cape Town shows that Franck Cammas and his men are making progress in this short format racing, but they haven’t yet reached the required standard in breezy conditions : Groupama 4 finishes fifth, whilst Telefonica drives the point home still further… The presence of pirates in the Indian Ocean prompt the organisers to divert the fleet towards the Maldives, then load the boats onto a cargo ship to make for the Persian Gulf. With regards the weather, after the light airs start, everyone stumbles into a front, which is slowly shifting eastwards. Franck Cammas and his men are the only ones to try to get around to the South of it and are leading in the climb up to the equator, whilst Sanya narrowly avoids dismasting offshore of Madagascar. With an 80-mile lead over Puma and over a hundred in front of her other rivals, Groupama 4 enters the Doldrums in a spot which is to prove fatal : her pursuers are able to get around the obstacle and ultimately it’s the Spanish who pip the New Zealanders to the post, whilst the French boat finishes in her worst position (4th) on an offshore leg of the entire round the world voyage…
Franck Cammas : "Our adversaries are certainly more conservative, essentially opting for the direct route each time. However, our southerly option in this second leg paid off ! It’s important not to forget the good decisions we took..."
The top three in Malé 1-Telefonica (Iker Martinez) 1+30+6+24 = 61 points 2-Camper (Chris Nicholson) 4+25+5+20 = 54 points 3-Groupama 4 (Franck Cammas) 2+20+2+12 = 36 points
Three short courses to follow
Once they are unloaded at Sharjah, the fleet have to make for Abu Dhabi in race mode, on what is a boisterous reach of around a hundred miles. At that point, Groupama 4 and her crew confirm their excellent potential : they claw their way back up through the fleet and finally overtake Telefonica on the last gybe. It’s the team’s first victory ! And to celebrate the new year, the French sail a very good In-Port race in the Persian Gulf by finishing just astern of Abu Dhabi… The team are gaining in confidence as they outpace the leader in the overall standing on two occasions. Once again, a coastal course accompanies the first slice of the third leg as the boats have to be loaded onto a cargo ship to make for the Maldives. Here again, Franck Cammas and his men control Iker Martinez and his crew to finish third in Sharjah.
The top three in Sharjah 1-Telefonica (Iker Martinez) 1+30+6+29+2+3 = 71 points 2-Camper (Chris Nicholson) 4+25+5+24+4+2 = 64 points 3-Groupama 4 (Franck Cammas) 2+20+2+18+5+4 = 51 points
In the equatorial heat
There are just 3,000 miles to cover between the Maldives and China, but it’s essentially a close-hauled sprint, a point of sail where Groupama 4 hasn’t proven to be the most at ease since the start in Alicante. However, the technical team have worked hard to improve performance and Franck Cammas and his men manage to keep pace with the rhythm imposed once again by the Spanish. Indeed they are even within sight of each other when they pass in front of Singapore after a hazardous, light-air Strait of Malacca. The climb up the coast of Vietnam isn’t at all relaxing with tradewinds of over thirty knots and nasty seas : a series of tack changes and a second place at the finish confirm how well the French are progressing, whilst Puma splits off towards Borneo and Camper and Abu Dhabi go astray in Java. Groupama 4 is becoming an increasing threat to the New Zealanders…
Franck Cammas : “We’re probably more feared now, but we’re only a third of the way through the race. We’ve certainly dropped some points during the second leg : without that, we’d be closer to the leader today. What I take from this though is that we’re training up a crew, which has made the most progress from one race to the next…”
The top three in Sanya 1-Telefonica (Iker Martinez) 1+30+6+29+2+3+24 = 95 points 2-Camper (Chris Nicholson) 4+25+5+24+4+2+16 = 80 points 3-Groupama 4 (Franck Cammas) 2+20+2+18+5+4+20 = 71 points
Voir en ligne : Info presse www.cammas-groupama.com/fr/
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