Groupama 3 Jules Verne Trophy Record Attempt - Day 50

Tempo allegro

The acceleration is good for this final sprint thanks to a NW'ly wind of around twenty knots and the finish off the Créac'h lighthouse is scheduled during the course of tonight. However Groupama 3 won't enter the harbour of Brest until after sunrise, at around 0830 hours UTC after a little more than 48 days at sea!

"We may have a little too much sail aloft at the moment with the solent jib and mainsail, but we can't afford to hang about. There's a ridge of high pressure coming up behind us and we mustn't get caught up in the calm conditions... We don't yet know what time we're going to cross the finish line and that's not that important, though it's always good to be as far ahead of the previous reference time as possible. We're being a bit shaken about! Our main focus is to arrive in one piece... We're sticking to the same habits though and we're maintaining our normal watch rhythm" indicated Franck Cammas during the 1130 UTC radio session with Groupama's Race HQ in Brest.

Moderato i pianissimo...

"We're going fast at the moment beneath blue skies with the odd cumulus from time to time. The breeze has now switched round to the NW on fairly flat seas with 18-20 knots of breeze so we can follow a direct course at between 30 and 35 knots... However, we're sailing at 90-95% of the boat's potential with the sheets slightly more eased. The work to prepare the boat was perfect: the boat is in very good condition and we've been able to effect repairs on any small areas of damage. We're seeking to keep the trimaran as flat as possible but it's the leaping off the back of the waves that is the most annoying because the boat is taking a beating. We're trying to limit that as much as we can and we are bringing the sunshine with us! It's amazing to think that we'd have given up on setting off on this Jules Verne Trophy had it been ten hours later. We're going to wait till we cross the finish line before we sing, but we should be able to do that tonight..." added Loïc Le Mignon.

The current ETA off the Créac'h lighthouse lies between the middle of the night and daybreak, but Groupama 3 won't enter the harbour of Brest under sail until around 0830 UTC tomorrow, where she will draw alongside in the Port du Château an hour later.

Groupama 3's log: (departure on 31st January at 13h 55' 53'' UTC)

Day 1 (1st February 1400 UTC): 500 miles (deficit = 94 miles)
Day 2 (2nd February 1400 UTC): 560 miles (lead = 3.5 miles)
Day 3 (3rd February 1400 UTC): 535 miles (lead = 170 miles)
Day 4 (4th February 1400 UTC): 565 miles (lead = 245 miles)
Day 5 (5th February 1400 UTC): 656 miles (lead = 562 miles)
Day 6 (6th February 1400 UTC): 456 miles (lead = 620 miles)
Day 7 (7th February 1400 UTC): 430 miles (lead = 539 miles)
Day 8 (8th February 1400 UTC): 305 miles (lead = 456 miles)
Day 9 (9th February 1400 UTC): 436 miles (lead = 393 miles)
Day 10 (10th February 1400 UTC): 355 miles (lead = 272 miles)
Day 11 (11th February 1400 UTC): 267 miles (deficit = 30 miles)
Day 12 (12th February 1400 UTC): 247 miles (deficit = 385 miles)
Day 13 (13th February 1400 UTC): 719 miles (deficit = 347 miles)
Day 14 (14th February 1400 UTC): 680 miles (deficit = 288 miles)
Day 15 (15th February 1400 UTC): 651 miles (deficit = 203 miles)
Day 16 (16th February 1400 UTC): 322 miles (deficit = 376 miles)
Day 17 (17th February 1400 UTC): 425 miles (deficit = 338 miles)
Day 18 (18th February 1400 UTC): 362 miles (deficit = 433 miles)
Day 19 (19th February 1400 UTC): 726 miles (deficit = 234 miles)
Day 20 (20th February 1400 UTC): 672 miles (deficit = 211 miles)
Day 21 (21th February 1400 UTC): 584 miles (deficit = 124 miles)
Day 22 (22nd February 1400 UTC): 607 miles (deficit = 137 miles)
Day 23 (23rd February 1400 UTC): 702 miles (lead = 60 miles)
Day 24 (24th February 1400 UTC): 638 miles (lead = 208 miles)
Day 25 (25th February 1400 UTC): 712 miles (lead = 371 miles)
Day 26 (26th February 1400 UTC): 687 miles (lead = 430 miles)
Day 27 (27th February 1400 UTC): 797 miles (lead = 560 miles)
Day 27 (27th February 1400 UTC): 560 miles (lead = 517 miles)
Day 29 (1st March 1400 UTC): 434 miles (lead = 268 miles)
Day 30 (2nd March 1400 UTC): 575 miles (lead = 184 miles)
Day 31 (3rd March 1400 UTC): 617 miles (lead = 291 miles)
Day 32 (4th March 1400 UTC): 492 miles (lead = 248 miles)
Day 33 (5th March 1400 UTC): 445 miles (lead = 150 miles)
Day 34 (6th March 1400 UTC): 461 miles (lead = 58 miles)
Day 35 (7th March 1400 UTC): 382 miles (deficit = 100 miles)
Day 36 (8th March 1400 UTC): 317 miles (deficit = 326 miles)
Day 37 (9th March 1400 UTC): 506 miles (deficit = 331 miles)
Day 38 (10th March 1400 UTC): 321 miles (deficit = 384 miles)
Day 39 (11th March 1400 UTC): 255 miles (deficit = 309 miles)
Day 40 (12th March 1400 UTC): 288 miles (deficit = 473 miles)
Day 41 (13th March 1400 UTC): 503 miles (deficit = 483 miles)
Day 42 (14th March 1400 UTC): 445 miles (deficit = 403 miles)
Day 43 (15th March 1400 UTC): 482 miles (deficit = 216 miles)
Day 44 (16th March 1400 UTC): 401 miles (lead = 72 miles)
Day 45 (17th March 1400 UTC): 441 miles (lead = 412 miles)
Day 46 (18th March 1400 UTC): 579 miles (lead = 828 miles)
Day 47 (19th March 1400 UTC): 588 miles (lead = 1 165 miles)
Day 48 (20th March 1400 UTC): 600 miles (lead = 1 412 miles)

The record to beat

Currently held by Bruno Peyron on Orange 2 since 2005 with a time of 50 days 16 hours 20 minutes at an average of 17.89 knots. Lionel Lemonchois, Ronan Le Goff and Jacques Caraës were aboard at the time.

Find all the latest about the Groupama trimarans at www.cammas-groupama.com