Cammas Takes Volvo Trophy for Groupama

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Franck Cammas became the first skipper to hold aloft the new Volvo Ocean Race Trophy as thousands of fans joined his Groupama sailing team for a raucous Race Village reception.

There was a party atmosphere all day in Galway as people lined the docks and packed the viewing areas to see the final action of the Volvo Ocean Race 2011-12 -- the Discover Ireland In-Port Race.

After completing the race, Groupama -- who had already clinched overall victory after coming into Galway to an equally warm reception on Tuesday -- took to the main stage to blasts of the team's theme tune Highway to Hell.

The entire team, including shore crew, came up on stage to spray champagne and celebrate an extraordinary triumph for a team who were making their debut in the race and started as outsiders.

This is the 11th edition of the Race and an inscription on the 11th wave-shaped ring on the trophy is the only prize for victory.

It is a simple honour but one that means so much, with Cammas now indelibly linked with sailing legends like Peter Blake, Paul Cayard, Mike Sanderson and Torben Grael.

The Discover Ireland In-Port Race honours went to PUMA Ocean Racing powered by BERG, whose triumph on Saturday was enough to give them victory in the In-Port Race Series.

Groupama Crowned Volvo Champions

Photo: Ian Roman

Groupama crossed the finish line in the pitch black Galway night to settle the closest contest in the 39-year history and crown themselves Volvo Ocean Race champions 2011-12.

While CAMPER were celebrating victory in the ninth and final leg, Groupama skipper Franck Cammas led his team home in second place to take an unassailable 24-point lead with just one in-port race to go.

Groupama crossed the finish line at 00:49:11 UTC, just seven minutes behind CAMPER. PUMA finished in third place at 00:55:01 UTC ahead of Team Telefónica, who finished at 00:59:33 UTC.

Team Sanya crossed the finish line in fifth place at 03:14:27 UTC ahead of Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing, crossing the line in sixth at 03:23:29 UTC.

"It's a very happy moment for us and for all the team,'' Cammas said to the roars of tens of thousands of fans who came out to welcome the team -- including Irishman Damian Foxall -- to the Glaway finish. "I didn't think we could win. This is my dream."

Cammas, the 39-year-old Frenchman, threw his arms up and pumped his fists in the air while fans gathered on the dock of Galway Bay.

Groupama are the first team to represent France in the Volvo Ocean Race since Eric Tabarly's La Poste in 1993-94 and they are only the second French winners after Lionel Péan on L'Espirit d'Equipe in 1985-86.

The team gallantly fought back from a deficit that was as high as 28 points following the HaiTang Bay In-Port Race in Sanya, winning the next leg to Auckland and steadily improving their knowledge of their boat and cohesion as a team to surge to a commanding lead going into Leg 9.

With the sort of nerve that quickly became their trademark in the race, Groupama stayed serenely out of trouble on the 550-nautical mile race through wild conditions in the English Channel and around the iconic Fastnet Rock, to finish second across the line and seal their place among an elite band of winners in an event that began life as the Whitbread Round the World Race in 1973.

CAMPER with Emirates Team New Zealand led the procession across the finish line much to the delight of surrounding flotilla of spectators, at 00:42:13 UTC -- their first leg win of the race.

CAMPER are almost certain to secure second place with 226 points, six points clear of third place PUMA, with just the final in-port race remaining.

Six points will be up for grabs for first place, five for second, four for third and so on when the final race of the epic 39,000 nautical mile ocean race starts on July 7.

Galway Speed is Key for Groupama

Photo: Ian Roman

Man of the moment Franck Cammas says outright speed will hold the key to success in the final offshore leg of the 2011-12 Volvo Ocean Race starting on Sunday -- and his Groupama crew will approach the 550-mile stage as a long in-port race.

Groupama are firm favourites for victory in Leg 9 from Lorient to Galway having won Leg 8 and the Bretagne In-Port Race on the team’s home waters of Lorient.

So focused on speed are the French team that they have subbed navigator Jean-Luc Nélias for trimming expert Laurent Pagès.

“I think the last leg is more of a longer inshore than a shorter offshore,” Cammas said.

“The track and the routing is very simple so I think Jean-Luc can give us all his skill before the start, we can prepare the navigation very well, but then I think we need a trimmer so we can be very fast. 

“The routing is for now simple, except maybe the final three or four hours, otherwise we just need to be very fast.”

With Leg 9 forecast to take less than 48 hours, a good result for Groupama, currently 25 points ahead of second-placed PUMA Ocean Racing powered by BERG in the overall rankings, could see them crowned overall winners prior to the Galway In-Port Race.

But the leg will be anything but easy, with rough conditions set to test the fleet right up to the finish line in Galway Bay.

“The problem in offshore racing is anything can happen on the sea, and tomorrow night it will be windy, so we have to be careful with the boat and the structure,” Cammas added.

“But for sure, I prefer to start the leg with a 25-point lead -- there is less pressure.”

Leg 9 starts at 1102 UTC.

Tough Lorient Leg 8

The Leg 8 race from Lisbon to Lorient was short, but it was anything but sweet. From drifting in the Azores to racing into the eye of a storm where searing speeds and heartbreaking boat damage resulted, the shortest leg of the race yet didn't come up short on drama.

Just shy of 2,000 miles, the penultimate leg first lured the teams in with a false sense of security with drifting conditions in the Azores High at the São Miguel Island turning mark.

The six-boat fleet compressed to within just 10 nautical miles as they tacked around the island, completing the first real manoeuvre of what had otherwise been a moderate-paced reaching race that favoured the three Juan K boats: Telefónica, Groupama and PUMA.

The calm before the storm soon passed as the teams raced into an unavoidable gale-force low pressure system in the North Atlantic that made even the most experienced skipper an anxiety ridden insomniac.

"It's hard as skipper sailing into a low pressure system that you know is going to be brutal from a safety standpoint,'' PUMA skipper Ken Read said.

"I think it was the anticipation of that storm that wears me out. Once you're in it you can deal with it, but it's that anticipation that's not much fun."

The Volvo Open 70s ramped up to speeds in the 20s and talk of an IWC Schaffhausen 24-hour Speed Record soon began.

In pole position it was Telefónica who first notched a record, overtaking the 2011-12 race best of 553 nm set by CAMPER with Emirates Team New Zealand on the Leg 1 race from Alicante, Spain to Cape Town, South Africa.

Soon enough, Chris Nicholson's team were back on top with what would prove an unbeatable result of 565.84 nm.

CAMPER trimmer/helmsman Rob Salthouse, competing in his third Volvo, said racing at such hair-raising speeds was exhilarating stuff, but crazy too.

"I'm told you don't have to be mad but it helps, and if anyone thought that was fun they're mad,'' he said.

"It was dreadful. We were pushing man and boat to the limit for 48 hours. It was a great battle though, and that's why we do this race.

"It's why we keep coming back to this race – for the battle.

"We had four boats out there going for it, hammer down and on the edge. But doing it for more than two days is pretty stressful!"

The question on everyone's lips was one of risk versus reward -- or just how hard could the teams push boat and sailor before something had to give in the violent conditions?

"The last day and a half was really full on," said Abu Dhabi skipper Ian Walker. "it was mentally hard knowing how hard to push. It's so hard to back off in these boats.

"There's just such a huge difference between backing off a little and going flat out.

"I'm more amazed that these boats don't break, than when they do break to be honest. We're coming off waves so hard that bunks are breaking down below from the weight of the people landing in them. So you can imagine the loads on everything else."

No one paid a higher price in the high-stakes penultimate leg than former overall race leader Team Telefónica.

The Spanish team first struck trouble on June 14 when the team broke their starboard rudder in 25 knots of wind, losing 11 nautical miles on the fleet and dropping from first to fourth.

The ever defiant crew surged back to the lead within hours before a second round of problems broke their replacement rudder and damaged the port rudder.

As the team dropped off the pace while stabilising their damaged boat the reality sank in. "We have just seen any chance of us winning this round the world regatta slip away," a heartbroken Martínez said just hours after the incident.

It hadn't been smooth sailing for Groupama either. Just 48 hours from the finish, Groupama faced a potentially dangerous situation as they tried to reduce sail area in preparation for gale-force winds.

The team's mainsail got jammed at the top of the mast leaving bowman Brad Marsh to carry out some mid-sea heroics, climbing to the top of the 31-metre mast three times in winds of well over 20 knots and rough seas.

After two hours of repairs, Marsh's skills kept the French team in the race and they only lost out 20 miles to the fleet.

With Telefónica now in survival mode and no threat to the lead, Groupama had the break they needed, completing a heroic comeback that firmed their grip on the overall standings and realising a dream homecoming to their base in Lorient.

"It's a very good feeling for sure," Groupama skipper Franck Cammas said. "It's a dream we had 10 months ago and now we have made it reality."

CAMPER were second, followed by PUMA in third and Abu Dhabi fourth -- all within the space of thee hours.

Groupama earned 30 points to move on to a total of 219 points, 23 points clear of their nearest rivals PUMA Ocean Racing powered by BERG, who moved into second place with 196. CAMPER are five points further back, level with Telefónica after they held off a late challenge from Team Sanya to take fifth.

Sanya gave it everything on that final day, just as they have done from the start, but once again they had to settle for sixth in a race where they have been overpowered by five newer and quicker designs.

"Our budget is about half of the other teams, and that has a place," Sanderson said. "We’ve given 10 blokes the chance to have a race, and we’re out there mixing it up. Do I think it’s a good thing? Absolutely. Would I do it again? Probably not."

With just one short leg to Galway and two in-port races remaining Groupama are in a strong position to claim overall victory in their debut Volvo Ocean Race.

PUMA skipper Ken Read even admitted that while his team certainly could come back and win, it would be tough.

"I hope I'm wrong but I have a feeling we've seen the opportunity to win this race slipping away,'' Read said.

"That's a big 10 points that they (Groupama) just amassed over us. Good for them, they keep sailing fast and smart and that's a deadly combination."

A Sort of Homecoming for Groupama

Photo: Paul Todd

France's Groupama completed a heroic comeback victory on Leg 8 of the Volvo Ocean Race on Friday, strengthening their grip on the overall standings and realising a dream homecoming to the port of Lorient.

Franck Cammas and his men were cheered by thousands of fans on the Brittany coast after crossing the Leg 8 finish line at their home port at 13:31:04 local, 11:31:04 UTC to claim the maximum 30 points, with an elapsed time of four days, 23 hours, 31 minutes and four seconds.

CAMPER with Emirates Team New Zealand finished second at 14:30:09 local, 12:30:09 UTC, earning 25 points. PUMA Ocean Racing powered by BERG finished at 12:43:04 UTC, scoring 20 points and moving into second place overall. Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing finished fourth at 14:17:25 UTC.

Groupama's win extended their lead at the top of the standings to 23 points, with PUMA moving up to second and Telefónica left level on points with CAMPER a further five points back after seeing their victory hopes were dashed when they broke a second rudder while leading overnight.

Telefonica eventually came in fifth at 20:40:26 UTC for 10 points, with Sanya finishing within 20 minutes at 20:59:41 after scrapping all the way on a blistering leg they never had a chance of winning in their older generation boat.

“It was a short leg, but it was a hard leg,” skipper Franck Cammas said while surrounded by thousands of fans on the docks at Lorient. “It is a very good feeling for sure, it is a dream we had 10 months ago and we arrive with a win now.”

It is an impressive comeback for Groupama who dropped to fourth place just two days ago when their mainsail jammed and the team spent a costly two hours with bowman Brad Marsh at the top of the 31-metre mast effecting repairs in storm conditions.

But the never-say-die crew fought back to reclaim the lead less than 12-hours before the finish with blistering pace in the North Atlantic low pressure system that packed 45 knots winds and four metre waves.

The French team’s victory hopes were bolstered by the misfortune of their arch-rivals Telefónica as the Spanish team were forced to slow to survival speeds after breaking both their rudders on the furious run to the finish.

Telefónica skipper Iker Martínez said the damage had effectively ended their chances of overall victory, with Groupama now enjoying a significant lead with just one leg and two in-port races remaining.

As the crew of the top four teams celebrate with the French fans, the remaining two continue to race, with Team Telefónica currently in fifth place and Team Sanya sixth.

Telefonica Leads Fleet into Storm

Photo: Yann Rio

Team Telefónica led a furious charge into the eye of a North Atlantic storm on Wednesday, with just 10 nautical miles separating the top four teams overall and the fastest 24-hour runs of the race a real possibility.

How the leading quartet of Groupama, Telefónica, PUMA and CAMPER play the risky situation could ultimately decide the entire race with just 23 points between them and only one more leg to go after the fleet arrive in Lorient on Friday.

The teams have been battening down the hatches in preparation for gale force winds up to 50 knots and waves in excess of six metres that could see the IWC Schaffhausen 24-hour record for the race toppled, but could equally prove boat-breaking.

The delicate balancing act is likely to turn many a skipper and navigator into an insomniac.

On board Abu Dhabi's Azzam the whole team have been engaged in an intense team meeting to discuss their tactics for what skipper Ian Walker described as "the sternest test yet of this race".

"This leg could still hinge on who pushes hardest and survives the gale force winds ahead,'' the double Olympic silver medallist said. "We will make sure we are well rested and everything is strapped to the back of the bus before the wind rapidly builds tonight.

"In those conditions, first and foremost it is surviving. The problem is that we are actually racing so it will be a case of which boats push hardest and force everyone else to as well."

Few are more nervous than Groupama sailing team, who have the most to lose. The overall race leaders, nursing an eight-point advantage over Telefónica, are all too aware that they will have to push hard to defend their narrow lead on the Leg 8 race to their home port.

But, with the conditions threatening to be as tough as the Southern Ocean in Leg 5 when the French team broke their mast and were forced to finish under jury rig, there will be trepidation.

One thing the team are confident in is the stamina of their crewmen, who are prepared to put every ounce of energy into the remaining 1,000 nautical miles, according to helmsman/trimmer Charles Caudrelier.

"There is a lot at stake, for sure,'' he said. "We are realising that we are leading the Volvo Ocean Race, and that we can win it. We are in front and that's more motivation. Plus the leg is short and we don't have to save energy for later on. We are sprinting."

The teams will be sprinting alright, with 24-hour distances expected to near, if not better, the 553 nautical miles notched by CAMPER with Emirates Team New Zealand during Leg 1, which has Chris Nicholson's team at the top of the IWC Schaffhausen Speed Record Challenge leaderboard.

CAMPER navigator Will Oxley said there was plenty of run-way available for the teams to accelerate without interruption, loosening the team's current clutch on the IWC Portuguese Yacht Club Chronograph Edition 'Volvo Ocean Race 2011-12' timepiece.

"There are almost 800 miles before we have to gybe, so there are plenty of opportunities for very fast time/distances to be covered over the next 36 hours,'' Oxley said. "A 24-hour distance record is possible, certainly the watches are up for grabs."

Ericsson 4 broke the world 24-hour speed record for a monohull during the 2008-09 race, recording 596.6 nautical miles -- a mark that has not been bettered since.

At 1500 UTC Team Telefónica held a 1.6 nautical mile lead over Groupama sailing team, followed by PUMA Ocean Racing powered by BERG, CAMPER, Abu Dhabi and Team Sanya in sixth place.

The latest ETA for the boats' arrival at Lorient, on the Brittany coast of France, is Friday.

Groupama Edge Team Telefonica

Groupama sailing team edged ahead of their biggest threat Team Telefónica overnight to claim first place as the pair’s fight for the overall lead intensifies on the Leg 8 race to Lorient.

The French team took the top spot at 2200 UTC to hold a most tenuous lead at 0500 UTC of 0.2 nautical miles.

While Groupama are fighting for a chance to retain the overall lead, which they have held since Leg 7, and race into their homeport of Lorient in first place, Telefónica are searching for redemption having failed to win a leg since Leg 3.

Just whose desire to win is strongest is yet to be seen, but one thing is for certain; they’re both prepared to put everything on the line for their chance at Volvo glory.

The remainder of the fleet’s positions remained unchanged overnight, at 0500 UTC with PUMA Ocean Racing powered by BERG were third, followed by Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing in fourth, CAMPER with Emirates Team New Zealand fifth and Team Sanya sixth, more than 30 nm behind the leaders.

The wind is slowly easing as expected as the fleet close in to about 150 nautical miles of the turning mark at São Miguel island, where they will compress and the race will intensify under the pressure of the Azores High.

Ensuring the crews are rested and ready for the close-quarters scrap is a top priority, Sanya skipper Mike Sanderson said, with the temptation to work in overtime on what is the shortest leg yet proving appealing.

But the veteran of four Volvo Ocean Races said it was vital to keep fatigue at bay and ensure the sailors’ efficiency.

“Once we are settled and the stack is in place and we know we are setup correctly for a bit, we start the watches as soon as possible,” Sanderson said. “This gets the boys rested, fed and in a routine right away.”

Groupama Stamp Authority in Lisbon

Photo : Paul Todd

Front-running Groupama stamped their authority on the Volvo Ocean Race today with a crucial win in the Oeiras In-Port Race, extending their overall lead to eight points with just four more scoring opportunities left.

After knocking Telefónica off the top spot at the end of Leg 7, Franck Cammas’ men dealt another blow to their rivals with a stellar performance on the waters of Lisbon’s River Tagus to take their points tally to 189.

PUMA Ocean Racing powered by BERG moved clear at the top of the in-port series rankings as they scored with a tactical gamble to grab second place and earn five points, while CAMPER with Emirates Team New Zealand could also take heart as they took the third podium place. Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing were fourth, followed by Sanya.

Telefónica were yet again left licking their wounds after a penalty turn for a start-line rule infringement on PUMA relegated them to the back of the pack.

Their fate was sealed when their masthead halyard broke, unexpectedly dumping their spinnaker into the water. Sanya intentionally dumped theirs overboard after their halyard failed to unlock from the mast.

With two legs and two in-port races left to sail, the overall picture remains close. Groupama lead by eight points from Telefónica, followed by PUMA 13 points off the pace and CAMPER within 23 of the top.

With 30 points for victory in each of the remaining offshore legs there is still everything to play for within that leading quartet, though Telefónica's watch leader Neal McDonald accepted Groupama have put themselves in a strong position.

"It's not making it any easier," McDonald said. "Groupama did a fantastic job today and extended their lead. Now it's two places offshore instead of one. They are getting themselves into a comfortable position."

As the gun fired at 1300 local time (1200 UTC) Groupama enjoyed the best start, avoiding getting tangled up with their rivals to rocket down towards the first mark in 10-15-knot south-westerly winds.

"We did a great job today with the start," said Groupama skipper Franck Cammas. "Sometimes I’m not very good with the starts so we worked a lot yesterday to practise downwind starts."

Despite exchanging leading positions several times with CAMPER as the fleet blasted down the Tagus River past Lisbon’s iconic 25th of April Bridge, Groupama rounded the first mark ahead and never looked back, holding onto the front spot for the remainder of the 11.6nm course.

PUMA were stuck in fourth before a late decision to make for the alternative gate saw them haul back Abu Dhabi and CAMPER and sneak into second.

"We got one little opening, one little crack, and if I didn’t have 100 per cent confidence in the crew we couldn’t have pulled it off," said PUMA skipper Ken Read.

"We made that call to go round the other mark with about two boat lengths to go. That was just a call by me, thinking, ‘I think we can shoot this’. We went for it, nobody said a word, and we pulled it off."

Chris Nicholson’s CAMPER managed to hold back Ian Walker’s Abu Dhabi crew to record their sixth in-port race podium finish in eight races.

"Today is not as much doom and gloom as what people think," said CAMPER skipper Chris Nicholson. "Today we wanted more but it could have been a whole lot worse as we’ve seen."

Groupama Make Volvo Move

Leg 7 of the Volvo Ocean Race looked set to come to a thrilling climax in the final 36 hours of the transatlantic passage to Lisbon as the fleet began to compress in a high pressure ridge off Portugal on Wednesday.

Just 49 nautical miles separated leaders Abu Dhabi from sixth placed Team Sanya as Groupama continued their climb up the rankings, slipping past PUMA Ocean Racing powered by BERG to take second.

At 1300 UTC Groupama were 14 nm off the lead but just 0.3 nm ahead of third placed PUMA. Overall race leaders Team Telefónica were in fourth, 29 nm from first place and two nm ahead of fifth placed CAMPER with Emirates Team New Zealand. Team Sanya remained in sixth, a further 20 nm back.

First to feel the effects of the 200 nm-wide light wind high pressure ridge moving east towards the fleet, long time front runners Abu Dhabi have been steadily closed down by the chasing pack over the last 12 hours.

“It’s a tricky period at the moment as we’ve known all along we’re going to sail into light winds and everyone is going to come catching up pretty fast,” said skipper Ian Walker.

“No one likes to lose miles and at the moment we’re losing miles to all the other boats. So it feels a bit awkward, but we’re still in the lead so it’s not all that bad."

Walker said it was going to be impossible to cover every one of their five competitors who are currently spread 50 nm on a north west to south east axis.

“I guess what you try and do is put yourself between the boats behind and the mark (finish) and cover,” he said. “But it’s very difficult to do that without losing even more miles because we don’t have the same wind direction.”

“Sooner or later we’re going to have absolutely no wind, and it’s going to be a question of who pops out first.

“We have a day and a half racing to go to Lisbon and we’re sitting here in the lead with a chance of winning the leg and we couldn’t have hoped for much more than that when we left Miami.”

After languishing in sixth place just a few days ago, Groupama helmsman Charles Caudrelier said the crew were delighted with their comeback and were now focusing on reeling in Abu Dhabi.

"A couple of days ago we thought we had no chance of victory and now it is a possibility,” Caudrelier said. “There are still a lot of things left to do but we have come right back on the leaders."

Aware that their lead in the overall race is under threat, Team Telefónica were hoping the high pressure system will reshuffle the positions in their favour.

“Given where we are now, the overall lead can change easily,” said skipper Iker Martínez. “Hopefully not, but it looks like this can happen.

“We have us a big wall in front of with no wind, so anything can happen and it looks like it’s going to be very, very close until the end of the leg.”

Martínez said their priority was to score as many points as possible and that meant finding a fast route through the high pressure.

“Once we’re inside the ridge it’s going to be difficult to get through it,” he added.

“We have to try to take as many points as we can, it is very difficult for us but we just have to try. We’ll keep fighting as always.”

Race meteorologist Gonzalo Infante said he expected the fleet to be in the lightest winds at around 0000 UTC.

“The winds will decrease steadily today, dropping to no more than six knots for around six hours overnight,” he said. “The way the boats are lined up north-south means they could all enter the lightest winds at the same time.”

Infante said the first boats should start to exit the light air zone as the sun comes up and transition into solid northerly Portuguese trade winds which will build to 15 to 18 knots on the final day.

“It should be fast reaching to Lisbon,” he added. “The leaders should reach the coast of Portugal by sunset when there could be a transition to lighter more unpredictable breezes caused by the proximity to the city of Lisbon.

“There could be a few surprises in the final stretch up the River Tagus to the finish,” Infante said. “If they arrive around midnight, a patchy and shifty northerly wind may prevail, but if they are delayed until early morning, local thermal effects could mean light offshore breezes."

Latest estimates have the leading boat crossing the finish line in Lisbon between 2100 UTC (2200 local) on May 31 and 0200 UTC (0300 local) on June 1.

No Time for Sleep in Volvo Tacking

Sleep deprivation is taking a toll on the battle weary sailors who have been kept from their bunks by a tacking frenzy in the bumpy, icy waters of the North Atlantic.

“I’d say that no body has slept the last 24- ours,” Groupama sailing team helmsman/trimmer Phil Harmer said. 

“We’ve had a tough 24-hours, as has the whole fleet, beating upwind in the Gulf Stream against the wind and doing lots of tacks to stay in the current.”

The constant tacking means that sailors who are off-watch and meant to be sleeping are rudely awoken to assist the on-watch team on deck, shifting as much as three tonnes of stacked gear from one side to the other. 

Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing Media Crew Member Nick Dana said the conditions were certainly taking a toll on the bleary-eyed sailors, describing Atlantic as just plain horrible, with cold air, a bumpy sea state and 60 degree wind shifts.

“As far as we’re concerned on board, we just want the bloody thing to end and the wind angle to go wide,’’ he said.

Dana’s fellow crewmember Adil Khalid agreed, requesting that his team try some straight-line sailing when he finished watch and prepared to eat some food before crashing in his bunk.

“I just want to eat my Mexican chicken and go to bed,’’ he said. “I have asked for no tacking during the next four hours, let’s see how that goes.”

The teams are all making the uncomfortable trek north in a bid to round a menacing high to reach a low-pressure system that could herald a powerful path to the Lisbon finish.

PUMA Ocean Racing powered by BERG MCM Amory Ross said taking the longer route had left him feeling a little duped with what was expected to be a 10-day race stretching out to a likely 12 days.

“It’s uncomfortable and cold, and we’re stuck bashing into a big seaway while looking for an escape around the top of this high,’’ he said. 

“Everyone’s crisscrossing around out here and the first boat free will likely have a large advantage as forecasts are calling for fast downwind conditions, but the weather isn’t going according to schedule and we’re still searching for a sign of the system’s northern boundary. 

“Until we find it, life will remain busy, bumpy, cold, and slow, and I’ll continue to feel wronged by the world of weather routing.”

Meanwhile, on board Team Sanya the crew are adapting to the rigours of the tacking frenzy, reported MCM Andrés Soriano.

Soriano said that the America’s Cup style tacking duel meant very little rest had been had. 

He said the “heavenly sleeping bags” have been rolled up and stowed away and “wet bunking” became the only way forward.

“Wet bunking for those who don’t know, is pretty much as it sounds, because the boys are in and out of the bunks so often with tacks or sail changes being so frequent, the boys simply roll down their foul weather gear bottoms to their ankles and sleep on the bunks,’’ he said. 

“Some sleep fully dressed, jacket and all. The trick is being able to get on deck at a moment's notice ready to capitalise on a shift. Some of the guys even resorted to sleeping on the stack in the stacking bays.”

Relief is in sight for the six teams, with reaching and running conditions awaiting them once they reach the low-pressure zone.

Groupama Time Alberto Pefectly

Amory Ross

A semblance of normality returned to the fleet on Tuesday after 24 hours of chaotic action for the teams as they fought to second guess the volatile tropical storm Alberto.

"The ones behind still have good wind and are coming back on us -- the fleet will compress for sure" Franck Cammas - skipper, Groupama

Franck Cammas’ crew on Groupama read the weather scenario to perfection at the start of Leg 7 from Miami to Lisbon, gybing away from the storm earliest before setting off on a blistering downwind ride to the east.

Soon after, the skittish Alberto made a sudden move to batter the remaining five boats with several hours of strong headwinds, huge waves and lightning storms.

Having at one point built a lead of nearly 70 nautical miles, this morning Groupama’s advantage was down to 22 nm, as the chasing pack, led by PUMA Ocean Racing powered by BERG, emerged bruised but unbowed from Alberto’s clutches.

At 1300 UTC Groupama sailing team were 18 nm ahead as the leg leaders slowed in softening winds which looked likely to re-compress the fleet over the coming day.

Despite closing down Groupama, Ken Read’s second placed PUMA were also having to fight to hold off Iker Martínez’s Team Telefónica, the overall race leaders, just seven nautical miles back.

Four nautical miles astern and also eying up a chance to break into the top three were Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing, Chris Nicholson’s CAMPER with Emirates Team New Zealand and Mike Sanderson’s Team Sanya -- all grouped within 12 nm of each other.

Abu Dhabi skipper Ian Walker explained how the entire fleet, minus Groupama, were caught out.

“We were trying to ride the extra wind just to the south of it but a violent wind shift headed us straight into the eye of the storm," said the Briton.

“There then followed a chaotic 12 hour period as we ended up on the wrong side of it beating upwind in 35 knots. All of a sudden instead of a fast ride east to the south of the storm we were right in it and in survival mode with three reefs and a heavy weather jib.

"We came off some terrible waves but most worrying of all was the lightning. crashing all around right down to the water. It didn’t seem possible our carbon mast could avoid a direct strike."

CAMPER went on to suffer most from Alberto’s effects, surviving the battering before tumbling from second to fifth after becoming trapped in light winds near the storm’s centre.

"At one point we lost 25 nm in one sched,” said skipper Chris Nicholson. “What was worse was that PUMA and Telefónica, who were behind us, saw us get swallowed up by one very bad cloud and were able to take the high road up and around it.”

“It’s frustrating but everyone on board knows how easily these sort of things happen. Now we are clawing back some of those miles and we just need to stay in touch enough and wait for another opportunity.”

CAMPER navigator Will Oxley was similarly philosophical and said the team had already refocused on the next meteorological hurdle to be faced.

“The rest of us were a bit slow in gybing across and are now playing catch-up," he said. “Now, the main thing is that we need to pick up the (next) front developing to the east -- otherwise Groupama will get a real jump on everyone. It’s going to be an interesting leg.”

Sanya skipper Mike Sanderson described Alberto as "a pretty nasty low pressure".

"We saw up to 40 knots upwind and some horrendous rain and hail," added the New Zealander. "It was very tricky, very tough on the guys, no sleep -- from the beautiful organisation of Miami to total chaos on the first day.”

At the head of the fleet, Cammas said he was delighted with his crew’s performance since leaving Miami.

“Things have been going well for us since the beginning of the leg,” Cammas commented. “We did well in the tropical storm by gybing before we got trapped. Thanks to that we avoided the unstable area in its middle.”

However, Cammas said Groupama’s jump on the fleet was likely to continue to be eroded as they encountered a light air zone over the next 24 hours.

The weather forecast for the next hours indicates the wind is dropping a lot,” he said. “We hope that it won’t be a total calm as the ones behind still have good wind and are coming back on us.

“The fleet will compress for sure, unfortunately,” he added.

Just 14 points separate the leading four teams in the overall standings with three offshore legs to complete. Telefónica have 165 points, followed by Groupama on 158, CAMPER on 152 and PUMA on 151.

Bumpy Gulf Stream Helps Crews

Yann Riou/Groupama Sailing Team

After a light airs start to Leg 7 yesterday, Groupama sailing team have the lead today as northerly winds blowing against the Gulf Stream kick up a choppy sea in the opening stages of the transatlantic leg to Lisbon in Portugal.

The fleet’s progress north is being helped by three knots of positive current from the Gulf Stream conveyor belt, but has made for an unpleasant and bumpy start to the 3,590 nautical mile (nm) leg.

“There’s nothing like going upwind in the Gulf Stream and slamming into a big swell,” said PUMA watch captain Tony Mutter. Already the fleet has made good progress on what all crews expect to be an exhilarating and predominantly downwind ride back to European waters.

At 0700 GMT today Groupama led from Team Telefónica by 1.2 nm as the fleet passed Cape Canaveral on the east coast of the United States.

Meanwhile PUMA Ocean Racing powered by BERG, CAMPER with Emirates Team New Zealand and Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing are tightly bunched, while Team Sanya are positioned two miles to windward of the pack.

Ahead of the fleet to the north lies Tropical Storm Alberto, which will provide a big advantage for the team which finds the strong winds first.

According to Groupama navigator Jean-Luc Nélias, there is a chance the tropical low could propel the fleet east almost as far as the Azores Islands.

“The storm is the source of pressure for us to get north and east on, so it’s important to try to feed into that pressure first,” explained PUMA navigator Tom Addis. 

“You don’t want to be on the wrong side of that low, because the current against wind in the Gulf Stream would give quite a heinous sea state.”

Leg 7 is expected to take the fleet 11 days to complete with the leaders expected to arrive in Lisbon on or around May 31.

Groupama Overhaul Telefonica

Groupama threatened to throw the overall race wide open on Monday as they overhauled Team Telefónica for third place on Leg 6 and continued to make gains just as the leaders were coming to a grinding halt.

"We’ve come to a grinding halt unfortunately. There's not a breath of wind" - Mike Pammenter, CAMPER.

While long-term Leg 6 leaders PUMA and second-placed CAMPER were struggling to move at all, Groupama were making 10 knots and by 1900 UTC had closed to within 58 nautical miles of the front.

"We’ve come to a grinding halt unfortunately," said CAMPER's Mike Pammenter. "We made a lot of progress last night when it was supposed to be quite still, but unfortunately it’s all kicked in this morning and there’s not a breath of wind and we’re just flapping around."

"We’ve got 430 miles to go -- hopefully 48 hours if we can get a bit of breeze.

"We just have to work every bit of breeze. At the moment we’re doing one to two knots, which is quite painful really."

Behind the leaders, fifth-placed Abu Dhabi were also finding breeze and were back within 14 nm of Telefónica as the teams looked to pick the best route through the Bahamas, with around 220 nm to go before the final way point at Eluthera.

It will be a nail-biting finale for all concerned, with the Leg 6 outcome set to have huge consequences on the overall race situation.

A second successive leg win for Ken Read's in-form PUMA would move them within reach of overall leaders Telefónica, second-placed CAMPER and third-placed Groupama on the overall scoreboard -- but victory is far from assured.

As it currently stands, Team Telefónica lead overall by 16 points from Groupama sailing team. CAMPER are nine points further back and PUMA are a total of 32 points off the pace.

The winners of each of the remaining four offshore legs will pick up 30 points, with 25 for second, 20 for third and so on down to five points for sixth. The four remaining in-port races deliver six points for the winners, with five for second, four for third down to one point for sixth.

Telefónica's primary goal on Leg 6 into Miami is to finish ahead of Groupama to extend that lead over their closest challengers but they have a lot of work to do if they are to achieve that, with Groupama's decision to dive west inside the Turks and Caicos Islands easing them just ahead of their rivals by the 1000 UTC position report on Monday.

“This option is a bit risky, as we’re moving away from the normal route, but it could also be very valuable,” said Groupama helmsman Charles Caudrelier. “The leaders could get stuck in no wind and this could be our chance to catch up.”

Their speedy comeback has sent shivers down the spines of overall leaders Telefónica, who were desperately trying to get back up to speed after being snared by a wind hole to the east of the fleet.

“Things haven't gone how we wanted them to and we're becalmed, watching the boats we've been scrapping with for so long get away from us,” said Telefónica media crew member Diego Fructuoso.

“On top of that, the boats behind us are getting closer without us being able to do anything about it.

“It's not fair that this happens after so much time and effort but that's what sailing is like and above all races like this. We're still confident in being able to recover but right now there's nothing we can do.”

The first boats are expected to arrive in Miami around 1200 UTC on Wednesday, May 9.

OSM news service