Boat Damage Ends Around the World Sailing Record Attempt

Atlantic - Franck Cammas, and the crew of the record breaking boat Groupama 3, which is currently sailing around the world for a record, heard an awful sound today, ending the team's hope for setting a new world record - at least this year. During a storm on the Atlantic, a big cracking sound rang throughout the boat, signaling a broken aft beam bulkhead, which led to major damage to the trimaran's float. There is no other choice, Groupama 3 and her loyal crew must return to port, abandoning their Jules Verne Trophy attempt.

This is devastating news to the team, after repairing the boat from the dramatic end to their last 'round the world record attempt, the sailors were giving the project every bit of their effort, and had their hearts set on taking the prize this time.  The Groupama 3 team reports that a bulkhead, attached to the aft beam of the trimaran, cracked while sailing fast, fighting to stay ahead of a front, with sails angled at 90° to the true wind in a powerful NNE’ly and rough seas.

This structural weakness in the bulkhead caused the windward float of the sailboat to begin to destroy itself in the rough conditions, and all hopes of completing this round the world attempt went along with it.  Skipper Franck Cammas explains:

“We’d spent the night sailing fast to stay ahead of the front and this morning Thomas Coville and Bruno Jeanjean were on deck when they heard a big ‘crack’: there was a small fissure between the aft beam and the port float. Conditions were really bouncy: we came to a standstill with the wind right on our tail so as to be able to open the hatch and get down inside the float. Part of the section between the beam and the float level with the bulkhead had become detached. As such the structural integrity was reduced by at least half. It is impossible to envisage effecting repairs at sea due to the motion. At the moment we’re still being shaken about: there was 35 knots of wind on the beam at the moment the incident occurred and just now, we’ve been caught up by the front so we’ve got 40 knots of breeze."

Groupama 3 is now slowly sailing toward Cape Town, about 1,700 miles away, in heavy weather.  Said Cammas: "We’ve dumped the mainsail and Groupama 3 is running before the wind to avoid any harsh motion. We’re going to draw up a route to avoid having too much wind and excessive waves. We’re heading South to let the second low pass by us tonight and then we’ll head off towards Cape Town tomorrow morning, Tuesday. We’re continuing with the same watch system and I’m working with Stan to see what we can do next."

Will this be the end for the Groupama 3 hope of becoming the fastest around the world? Not if the crew has anything to say about it. When the damage occurred, Groupama 3 had a 345 mile lead over the current Jules Verne Trophy holder, Orange 2, and was sailing at an average speed of about 25 knots. Despite the disappointment of the failed attempt, the sailors were encouraged by their time, and it sounds as though they are already planning another go at the world sailing record.

According to the skipper, the goal after making it safely to Cape Town, which should take about a week, is to get the boat back to France "as quickly as possible: the crew’s up for that and if we can set off again before the end of January then it’s still feasible to make a new attempt!” With that kind of spirit, Groupama 3 may yet earn a record this winter season.  Of course, there's still Banque Populaire, waiting in the wings to begin her own record attempt.  As far as the "Clash of the Titans" goes, this battle was lost, but the war is far from over.

- Sailing News by the YachtPals Crew exclusively for YachtPals.com

Crew of Groupama 3:

• Watch No.1: Franck Cammas / Loïc Le Mignon / Jacques Caraës
• Watch No.2: Stève Ravussin / Thomas Coville / Bruno Jeanjean
• Watch No.3: Fred Le Peutrec / Lionel Lemonchois / Ronan Le Goff
• Navigator: Stan Honey

Related Sailing Articles:

• Groupama 3 (all articles about Groupama 3 by date)
• Groupama 3 Boat Home Page (with articles, photos and videos of Groupama 3)
• Groupama 3 - Titan #1 Sailing Around the World
• Interview with Skipper of Groupama 3, Franck Cammas
• Interview with Navigator of Groupama 3, Stan Honey
• Goliath vs Goliath - Groupama 3 and Banque Populaire
• Clash of the Titans – Banque Populaire vs. Groupama
• Franck Cammas Profile (about YachtPals member Franck Cammas)
• Lionel Lemonchois Profile
• Thomas Coville
• Stan Honey Profile (about YachtPals member Stan Honey)
• Banque Populaire (all articles about Banque Populaire by date)
• Banque Populaire V Boat Home Page
• Trimarans
• Jules Verne Trophy
• Sailing records
• Sailing News

Sailing Video: Groupama 3 sailing at the start of the Jules Verne Trophy attempt.