Groupama 3 is off the coast of Cape Verde and powering back into contention for the Jules Verne Trophy. The maxi trimaran has made up nearly 200 miles in the past 24 hours and the deficit is set to diminish further over the coming hours. On her 43rd day at sea, Orange 2 was at her slowest.
The Doldrums was virtually non-existent last night, though Franck Cammas had been rather wary of approaching the zone at dusk. Ultimately, not only was there little to worry about, but added to that the tradewinds are well established in the NE and the fifteen knots or so of breeze is enabling the giant trimaran to make an average speed close to, and even at times greater than thirty knots! At around this same time five years ago, Bruno Peyron and his crew were so tangled up in a ridge of high pressure that they only covered 180 miles on the 43rd day.
Day 37 (9 March: 506 miles (deficit 331 miles)
Day 38: 321 miles (deficit 384 miles)
Day 39: 255 miles (deficit 309 miles)
Day 40: 288 miles (deficit 473 miles)
Day 41: 503 miles (deficit 483 miles)
Day 42: 445 miles (deficit 403 miles)
Day 43: 482 miles (deficit 216 miles)
Read the full story here: http://www.yachtingworld.com/news/446692/groupama-3-s-deficit-set-to-diminish
