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On this subject

Franck Cammas, Groupama 4, Volvo Ocean Race

Volvo Ocean Race

Leg 4 : Sanya – Auckland – Day 2- Low-fat diet of breeze for Groupama 4

22 February 2012

Whilst the whole fleet is on the same course tracking towards Taiwan against the monsoon system, the breeze is beginning to become light in the South China Sea and the waves are becoming flatter. This is good news for Franck Cammas and his crew, who are maintaining their second place behind the New Zealanders. The easterly wind is becoming lighter but with it comes a more complicated situation on the water…

“Due to the tropical storm, which rolled across the South China Sea a few days ahead of us, the sea is still pretty choppy. As such we’re being forced to make headway with the wind and sea on the nose in a bid to reach the Luzon Strait. This Tuesday lunchtime (UTC), we’re on starboard tack, making towards the South of Hong Kong, on a north-easterly heading. Camper has managed to break away a little to windward (ten miles) as there was a favourable wind shift for them and right now it’s pretty good being out to the East. However, at a given point, it’ll be necessary to put in a tack…” commented Franck Cammas at the noon videoconference this Tuesday.

A fractured monsoon

The situation in the South China Sea has changed dramatically in less than 48 hours. The tropical depression has ‘sucked’ the monsoon across the southern section and turned the usual climate in this region somewhat on its head. A zone of calms is now reigning across the West and the North-West of the Philippines. As a result the boats are heading up to the North-East to get around this obstacle. There are no pronounced options to date and probably not before the fleet traverse the Luzon Strait. It is at this very point that the sailors are very likely to be skirting the Taiwanese coast on a beat in order to retain a bit of pressure in their sails…

“We’ve been on the same tack for more than 24 hours and there’s no manœuvres to make. We’re really heeled over but we’ve been able to rack up a fair amount of rest. The waves are between three and four metres high, but above all we are virtually sailing into the swell! The passage of the waves is brutal and is making life onboard very uncomfortable: conditions aren’t easy for the boat either… The hardest moments were last night but it’s going to gradually improve through until tomorrow. Right now the focus is on dealing with the oil rigs. There’s one in front of us and unfortunately they’re not very well charted. As regards the weather, the reality is nothing like the forecast but we’re beginning to get used to that in the South China Sea. The wind strength is correct, but the rotations come out of the blue. Roll on the time when we enter the Pacific because the skies are overcast and sailing into the wind isn’t very pleasant!” stressed the skipper of Groupama 4.

Camper beyond reproach…

The first 24 hours were essential for getting as far East as possible, so as to benefit from the big easterly wind shift, which encouraged Groupama 4 to put in her first change of tack (Tuesday lunchtime UTC). All the other skippers followed suit a few minutes after the French boat so since then it’s been a drag race for the Volvo fleet, close-hauled sailing 45° to a breeze of around fifteen knots, which is tending to bend around as the hours go by. This Tuesday afternoon, the fleet is likely to pass the surprising island of Pratas (Dongsha Qundao) around which the area is rife with oil prospecting. The position Franck Cammas and his men find themselves currently is proving favourable as Groupama 4 is at the front of the group, which is stretching away to the detriment of the latecomers who’ve had to tack twice (Telefonica) or more (Puma) to stay in the breeze that is falling away as they approach Hong Kong.

“Puma wasn’t favoured by her delayed start of more than half an hour in Sanya. We know that the wind is set to drop away across the whole of the race zone and each time, their crew has suffered the wind rotations at the same time as us, which is penalising them at the start of this race. However, it’s only our second day at sea! There is still a long way to go. At the start, the minute the wind enabled us to sail with sheets eased, we saw once again that we were very quick since we were able to overhaul Camper just as the wind shifted. Close-hauled we’re slightly less at ease, especially as we haven’t set Groupama 4 up for this point of sail, but for now, we’re maintaining our rank. We’re likely to latch onto more wind on the beam after Taiwan…”

At noon this Tuesday, the leaders had only covered 390 miles on their journey towards the Luzon Strait and there are still nearly 300 to go before they can round the southern tip of the ex-Formosa. The conditions on the water will be less rough but a lot more complicated because the breeze will oscillate several times over the coming hours with the presence of a large cloud mass, which is in the process of evaporating. There is likely to be some slight repositioning ahead then and it’s during this ballet of tack changes that some significant gaps could open out, particularly between the two leaders (Camper and Groupama 4) and the backrunner (Puma), which is already sailing in a different system than her rivals.