Author: Grégoire Chéron

After setting sail from Ushant on 10 January at 01h33’46’’, the Maxi Edmond de Rothschild passed the longitude of the Cape of Good Hope this 21 January at 11h27’46’’ UTC after 11 days 9 hours and 53 minutes at sea. In so doing, Franck Cammas, Charles Caudrelier, David Boileau, Erwan Israël, Yann Riou and Morgan Lagravière have secured the new reference time for the descent of the Atlantic, improving on the crewed reference time set by Banque Populaire in 2012 in the Jules Verne with a time of 11 days 21 hours 48 minutes (some 11 hours and 55 minutes faster) as well as that of Francois Gabart in solo format. Until this lunchtime, the skipper of Macif held the outright record for this section of 11 days 20 hours and 10 minutes.

Another cape awaits the crew of the Maxi Edmond de Rothschild, that of Agulhas, in a few miles’ time. However, this less well-known reference is just as important because it’s only on reaching this longitude that the Indian Ocean begins and with it the record approved by the WSSRC (World Sailing Speed Record Council).

Throughout the night, the crew of the Maxi Edmond de Rothschild has had to contend with shifty conditions to get the 32-metre giant making headway towards the gateway to the Indian Ocean. In short seas, where the boat accelerates and decelerates in every wave, piloting by night has not been the easiest of missions, especially in light of the fact that the dying breeze is still serving up a few suprise gusts to spice things up. As such, it was important to be on the sheets last night under the cuddy of the flying blue maxi-trimaran. Franck Cammas, Charles Caudrelier and their four crew had to hunt down a pivot point to the north before gybing on the stroke of 04:00 hours and then diving back down towards the south and the fortieth parallel. Despite conceding some ground to their virtual adversary over recent hours, at the 07:00 UTC position report, the men of Gitana Team still boast an 821-mile lead over the record holder, giving them a good cushion for rounding the first major cap of this round the world under sail.

The men of the Maxi Edmond de Rothschild are preparing to leave the familiar waters of the Atlantic Ocean and devour those of the less hospitable Indian Ocean. Indeed, at midday tomorrow, Franck Cammas, Charles Caudrelier, David Boileau, Erwan Israël, Morgan Lagravière and Yann Riou should pass the longitude of Cape Agulhas, which marks the entrance to the Southern Ocean. If the men of Gitana Team maintain the same pace they’ve been setting for the past three days or so, they should manage to post a fine time by way of a conclusion for  this section of the course, which measures nearly 6,200 miles (or around 10,000 km).

One should not always go by appearances… Despite an average speed of over 33 knots racked up by the flying maxi-trimaran over the past 24 hours, the six sailors who make up her crew are endeavouring to slow the giant down as best they can, but all she wants to do is accelerate. In a wind of between 30 and 35 knots, gusting to over 45 knots, which slaps into the sails, together with short, cross seas, now is not the time for excess speed. Rather it is all about striking a balance and preserving the gear. “We’ve been hunting for the brakes for the past few hours,” admitted Charles Caudrelier.

After ten and a half days at sea, the crew of the Maxi Edmond de Rothschild were benefiting from a nice lead of more than 950 miles over its virtual adversary at 15:00 UTC. However, a closer look at the chart reveals that it is in the next few hours that Francis Joyon and his men, the current holders of the Jules Verne Trophy, began their incredible straight-line ride towards the Pacific, a clear and implacable trajectory, which enabled them to secure a top-flight record in the Indian Ocean. Suffice to say that the match has only just begun.

Maxi-soundbites from the Sea, a Gitana Team podcast   

Tuned into the noise, Yann Riou, trimmer and media crewman, aims the mike at the partners joining him in this extreme sailing synonymous with the Jules Verne Trophy. It’s a wonderful invitation to an audio journey sharing the extraordinary daily life of these six crewmen engaged in the quest for the speed record around the seas of the globe.

Season 1 of our podcast, devoted to the descent of the Atlantic, which makes up the first quarter of the planetary circuit in terms of time, rounds off with this 3rd episode. The men of the Maxi Edmond de Rothschild are at the gateway to the Deep South. Tomorrow, Thursday 21 January, with their passage across the longitude of Cape Agulhas at the tip of South Africa, the six sailors and their flying maxi-trimaran will switch over to the Indian Ocean.
Just a few hours before what is a grand debut for David Boileau, boat captain and crewman, the latter shares with us a snapshot of life in the roaring forties. In heavy seas, where the 32-metre giant surfs off waves or stumbles into those rising up ahead of her bows, the simple day-to-day actions require the utmost focus. Indeed, in a carbon machine constantly powered up at over 30 knots and primarily geared towards performance rather than comfort under sail, tumbling over, falling flat on your face or worse still injury, are never far away.

David Boileau, 20 January 2021, in the forties 
“Right around us it’s magnificent! A blue sky, sunshine, reflections in the light blue sea… The seas are very heavy, with big breeze, and the boat is slipping along at 30-35 knots. It’s very pretty! Beyond the picture postcard though, it’s not always fantastically comfortable aboard. With the sea as it is, the boat has a tendency to come to an abrupt standstill in the waves. You have to hang on inside the Maxi, making sure you’re careful when you’re moving around the boat so as you don’t get caught out. This morning for example, I cut my finger near the galley, down in the central hull, just hanging on to make sure I didn’t fall. I got hooked up on a screw.  Moreover, when we cook, to avoid getting ejected, we have a strap that we wrap around our waist. However, this morning, during my incident, I wasn’t in the galley, rather I was just passing into that area on my way out of my resting watch aft in the bunk area, which is located under the cockpit. In terms of sound, yes, it’s always very noisy. You hear the water slipping along the hulls or slamming against them, as well as the whistling appendages. However, this noise is a good reference and enables us to anticipate the motion of the boat quite well. With the vibration of the hull, you feel the acceleration and you imagine the inevitable follow-up deceleration. At that point, everyone hangs onto whatever they have to hand to cushion the blow when the boat lands back down! The boat has also been under a lot of strain for the past three days. We’re being very attentive and doing what needs to be done in terms of speed to preserve the gear as much as possible.”

With short waves and a NW’ly wind of over 30 knots, there’s no doubt this morning, the crew of the Maxi Edmond de Rothschild is in the teeth of the forties. Despite the boisterous conditions, which are not facilitating the giant’s passage through the sea, Franck Cammas, Charles Caudrelier and their crew have managed to maintain high speeds throughout the night. A sustained pace, albeit perfectly balanced to preserve the gear, has enabled them to significantly increase their lead over Idec Sport in the past 24 hours. At the 07:00 UTC position report, the latest of the Gitanas was darting along towards the Cape of Good Hope and the entrance to the Indian Ocean some 952.4 miles ahead of the bows of their virtual adversary.

For more than 48 hours now, and since the millimetre precision of her connection with the train of austral low-pressure systems, the Maxi Edmond de Rothschild has been able to lengthen her stride and show off some of the power of her capacity. The speeds are certainly exhilarating, but they in no way detract from the pragmatism and clear-headedness of the two skippers, with over 16,000 miles still to go: “We’re only at the start of this round the world. On the section between Rio and Good Hope, conditions were naturally favourable for a 24-hour speed record but it was important not to forget our objective. Sailing at high speed already places the gear and the systems under a lot of strain, but very high speed is an additional risk that simply isn’t worth taking at this stage in our Jules Verne Trophy”, explained Franck Cammas.

Yesterday, in the last messages of the evening exchanged between the boat and their router Marcel van Triest, it was time to sort out the night’s sail configurations and update the weather forecast: “Overnight and in the coming hours, the wind could pick up quite a lot, notably with some possible gusts in excess of 40-45 knots. It’s important to bear that in mind to remain with a careful configuration in terms of headsail.”

With a passage of Cape Agulhas scheduled for tomorrow, Thursday 21 January, the crew of the Maxi Edmond de Rothschild is on the pace, proving that she is right on target with the tempo. In fact, according to the exact time they pass the tip of South Africa, the six sailors could well treat themselves to their first new reference time of their round the world record attempt. In the meantime, a new wet and lively day of sailing awaits them in the roaring forties.

Spot on with their timing and at the helm of a giant at her full potential, the crew of the Maxi Edmond de Rothschild began their passage across the South Atlantic on Sunday evening after seven days at sea, bound for Good Hope, the first of three major capes in the Jules Verne Trophy. Since then, the flying maxi-trimaran has left the Brazilian coast in her wake, the miles simply flying by at very high speed. This afternoon, Franck Cammas, Charles Caudrelier and their four crew have entered the forties, latitudes known by sailors as roaring due to the boisterous conditions they provide for those who dare to venture into them. And it has to be said that the NW’ly breeze has fleshed out to above 30 knots now. And so the scene is set for the men of Gitana Team who are continuing on their record hunt, with their sights on their first crack at the record to Cape Agulhas, which they know to be within reach.

Together with their router Marcel van Triest, the Cammas-Caudrelier pairing has managed to pull off its first challenge on the oceanic chessboard. Indeed, by perfectly positioning itself under the Saint Helena High and ahead of a powerful front heading off on a tour of Antarctica, they’re opening their crew up to the fast track. In the last 24 hours, they’ve maintained an average speed of over 35 knots, enabling them to devour some 846 miles.

At the gateway to the Deep South

Since departing Ushant, the men of the Maxi Edmond de Rothschild have been experiencing a speeded-up version of all four seasons, fluctuating between the cold and the hot just a few hours apart at times. By diving down towards the Southern Ocean, the sailors know that living conditions aboard the boat are set to get tougher and they’re preparing for them. And that’s also why they really made the most of the sun and the excellent conditions for slipping along yesterday as they were making headway at over 30° south: “Yesterday, we had 24 fairly crazy hours. Benefiting from such sunny conditions at these latitudes together with flat seas, meant we were able to make headway at very high speed, ticking off over 800 miles over the course of the day. Incredible! I was lucky enough to enjoy it in two ways, which was a great adrenalin rush. We decided to fly the drone and during the same watch I enjoyed 40 minutes of exceptional helming. At times like those… there’s no doubt in our mind about why we came on this voyage!” stressed Yann Riou, before going on to describe the ambiance and life onboard, ahead of the low-pressure system: “we’re gradually changing our clothes. It’s not cold in the daytime yet, even though we like getting on our fleeces and getting into sleeping bags at night, but the atmosphere is clearly more humid now. As such, our foulies and boots are now part of our outfit on deck again. The advantage of this is that the transition towards the cold will be a gradual one, at least with regards their wardrobe.”

Since the start of this 10th day of the record attempt, the wind has fleshed out as forecast, accompanied by a short, cross sea, it too becoming heavier. This afternoon, the latest of the Gitanas was sailing in a good NW’ly breeze of thirty knots or so, but she was continuing to power along towards the tip of South Africa. With a lead of 792 miles over Francis Joyon’s record, the men of Gitana Team know that they are sailing at the right tempo, but they remain clear-headed and particularly focused: “Idec had an exceptional Indian Ocean with an ideal gybe-free course and a series of days where they covered more than 800 miles… We knew we had to make it to the tip of South Africa with a good lead in order to do battle with them on an even footing”, explained Franck Cammas.

As was the case in the Brest Atlantiques race a little over a year ago, the 32-metre giant will pass fairly close to the ‘lost’ islands of the South Atlantic, namely Tristan Da Cunha and its closest neighbour Gough Island.

For the past 24 hours, since they made a perfectly controlled turn to the east offshore of Brazil, the men of the Maxi Edmond de Rothschild have clearly been lengthening their stride. Constantly making over 30 knots, often stretching to close to 35-40 knots, the six sailors are ticking off the miles at very high speed, increasing their lead over Francis Joyon’s record in the process. They were 732 miles in credit at the 07:00 UTC position report, compared with 442 miles at the same time yesterday. However, today’s the day when the atmosphere and the setting will really change aboard. The big blue skies will likely give way to moderate conditions ahead of the front and the T-shirts and shorts the crew were still wearing on deck yesterday afternoon will likely be consigned to their bags for a while.

The pureness of the trajectory

Since exiting the doldrums on Friday, the trajectory of the latest Gitana has been crystal-clear and it’s worth congratulating the work of Gitana Team’s weather cell for this vision, starting with Marcel van Triest, the router of the five-arrow stable. From his Mediterranean HQ, he has managed to hit the nail on the head! On setting sail from Ushant at the trailing edge of a weather slot more than a week ago, the Dutchman had a very clear image in his mind of the connection the Maxi Edmond de Rothschild needed to make yesterday. The teamwork required to achieve this was fantastic as it was important to stick closely to the polars of the 32-metre giant and line themselves up with a string of weather systems as the theory envisaged.

“It was important not to arrive in the south too early otherwise we’d have had to hang around at the station waiting for the train of depressions. In this case, I’d say that we managed to really nail the timing in terms of this transition. We had this pattern in mind and it’s great when things go according to plan!” admitted Marcel van Triest, a twinkle in his eye.

Strong wind for entering the 40th parallel

“The wind will lift considerably as we bend eastwards and we’ll end up on a downwind point of sail by the end of the day,” explained Franck Cammas yesterday. “Next, the wind will pick up considerably as far as South Africa. The visibility will change ahead of the front, even though the sea state will remain fine for quite a long time, which will enable us to post some very fine average speeds by exploiting the boat’s true potential. We’re flat out and we need to be to tackle this section. The next few days are all about striking a balance. We mustn’t be too quick or too slow to keep nicely ahead of the front. We must remain in a sector where the wind strength and direction is right. To achieve this, we need to constantly adjust the Maxi’s speed and course according to the speed and direction of the front, which is propelling us towards the Southern Ocean.”

This section of the Jules Verne Trophy course is known for providing teams with the opportunity to secure another record, that of 24 hours! Here, the team seem to have all the ingredients right now in the South Atlantic, between Rio de Janeiro and Cape Town, but the skippers of the Maxi Edmond de Rothschild remain clear about their strategy, as Franck Cammas points out: “It’s tempting to get carried away by the speed and performance the boat is more than capable of, but we’re only at the start of our round the world and we need to think about the bigger picture for the Maxi Edmond de Rothschild. The 24-hour record is not our primary objective, our eyes are on the Jules Verne Trophy.”

The crewed 24-hour distance record has been held since 1 August 2009 by Pascal Bidégorry and the men of Banque Populaire V. This was achieved during a North Atlantic record attempt and they covered 908.2 miles at an average speed of 37.84 knots; a fabulous time which still stands today even though it has been under threat on several occasions since.

After a relatively peaceful two-day transition along the Brazilian coast, the crew of the Maxi Edmond de Rothschild has begun to put some easting into its course, gradually bending the 32-metre giant’s trajectory round towards the point of entry into the Southern Ocean, the Cape of Good Hope. Very quick over the past four hours with an average speed of over 35 knots at the 07:00 UTC position report, Franck Cammas, Charles Caudrelier and their four crew have also increased their lead over the current record holder to 428 miles this Monday morning. We’ve got it, aboard the flying maxi-trimaran the pace is set to accelerate over the coming hours whilst the temperature will drop as the six sailors plunge towards the southern latitudes.

Since exiting the doldrums on Friday, the six sailors aboard the Maxi Edmond de Rothschild have benefited from mild sailing conditions throughout the weekend. They’ve managed to post high speeds on a long sprint on port tack offshore of the Brazilian coast, without forcing things for either the boat or the men. Franck Cammas commented on their performance: “we’ve maintained some high average speeds at some points of sail, which aren’t usually synonymous with going so fast. We knew that the Maxi Edmond de Rothschild was capable of doing that, but it’s always better to have confirmation of it out on the water. One of the strengths of this flying boat is being swift when sailing close to the wind, as we have been over the past three days.”
Despite the constant speed, the men of Gitana Team have benefited from the ordered seas and warm yet very pleasant temperature to get some rest, whilst also going around the boat, checking the platform and the systems before they dive down towards the Deep South.

So what if we were to look at the Jules Verne Trophy from the perspective of the summit it represents in the world of offshore racing? On its journey around the planet with the clock as its implacable adversary, this sailing record undoubtedly and figuratively ranks as one of the toughest mountains to climb. The challenge taken up by the men of Gitana Team is massive, namely a circumnavigation of the blue planet at a cracking pace to secure a new reference time under 40 days and 23 hours. In the high seas, just like in the high mountains, the challenges which push the envelope of human performance are both particularly dependent on the weather. Their success is inextricably linked to this component and with it the goodwill of Nature, which always has the final say. Little wonder then that when these two sports take the form of a feat on the crest of the waves or on the roof of the world, they have the distinctive feature of giving rise to remote weather routing with forecasts tailored for extreme environments. It is an art, a science in its own right where expertise takes precedence, some of the secrets to which are shared with us by Marcel van Triest, who is supporting the Maxi Edmond de Rothschild in her round the world navigation, and by Yan Giezendanner, a forecaster who in recent days has completed the routing for an historic winter ascent of K2…

Sorcerer of the seas Vs guru of the summits

In its quest for the Jules Verne Trophy, it is through a close and constant relationship with Marcel Van Triest that the crew of the Maxi Edmond de Rothschild is today carving out a wake towards the Southern Ocean, which it should reach in a few days’ time. This polyglot Dutchman is the 7th man of the five-arrow team. He is a rather special member of the crew, who has made round the world campaigns and navigation in the hostile latitudes of the Deep South his great speciality and trademark. From his Mediterranean HQ, he is vicariously participating in this record attempt being undertaken by the six members of the crew aboard the latest Gitana. With this goal, it is his mission to locate the magical way through, “this optimal route, which may not necessarily be the shortest, but is the quickest,” the route which gives the 32-metre giant every opportunity of a successful oceanic sprint. At this level, every hour spent navigating this course of around 22,000 miles (40,744 km) counts. This provides some insight into what is required in a gamble of this kind and the importance assumed by reading oceanic weather, which remains the prerogative of a precious few who are experts in the art of deciphering charts and models of all the world’s seas which are effectively one large ocean.

“The router is a bit like a reclusive caveman, completely shut away and living his life connected up to his computers, which remain tuned into the boat 24/7, 7 days a week. As such, whilst I’m routing, I never sleep for more than an hour in a row. I have a lot of alarms around me, which I adjust according to expected performance in the conditions it is encountering. If the crew want to call me up, they can also slow the boat down… That too works very well!” explains the man, who is today living and working at the tempo of the Maxi Edmond de Rothschild, whose progress he tracks, attuned to the conditions it’s encountering and the progress displayed by the data he receives continuously in elapsed time. “Twice a day, morning and evening, I send a summary to the boat, an outline diagram for an overall approach, which I put together using thirty or so models for the next eight to ten days. Beyond the safety aspect, one of the challenges is to avoid ending up in a cul de sac, in a situation from which there is no way out. I have to be one step ahead or rather an ocean ahead at all times,” explains the Jules Verne Trophy specialist, who has been the router for the last two crews to set a reference time on the planetary course, that of Loïck Peyron in 2012 and that of Francis Joyon, in January 2017.

Conquering an historic summit in mountaineering

At high altitude, Yan Giezendanner, a 66-year forecaster who boasts 43 years of good and faithful service at Météo France, the national meteorological service, has always devoted his talents to the mountain universe. From his base camp in Chamonix, he too works with his eyes riveted to his computer screens, which he never turns off. However, his mind extends to the highest summits on the planet, which he has scaled through routing, from the Himalayan mountain range, to Mount McKinley (Denali) in Alaska, via the Antarctic and Patagonia… The man known by his experienced mountaineer peers as the ‘third man of the roped party’, boasts a list of achievements that is as long as a windless day in the doldrums. With around twenty or so Everest ascents to his credit and a string of summits of which he knows all the routes and features, today Yan Giezendanner is the only Frenchman to have successfully completed the ‘fourteen 8,000m peaks’. This outstanding meteorologist has enabled the top mountaineers to achieve this feat. “I know these 8,000m peaks. I know where you have to go, the climatic constants and why they take place… I make the distinction between Everest, Makalu, McKinley, Fitz Roy and of course K2, the furthest north of the 8,000m peaks”, explains this expert observer of what the weather is doing in spheres perched very high above sea level. This is evidenced by the prestigious route he has just pinpointed for a Nepalese expedition to conquer the second highest peak in the world (8,611 metres), the formidable K2, which had never been summited in winter before, and could not have been timed better. Hot off the presses, it is the perfect illustration of a whole list of meteorological achievements, which are fleshed out with every passing year in the high mountains.

In the Karakoram range in Pakistan, this particularly hostile mountain resisted all winter attempts at the summit for over 15 years. To reach it, you have to edge your way along a colossal glacier and skirt the Chinese border. Here, between the two countries, the mountain rises up, pyramidal, vertiginous, in the icy sky, where the temperatures hover around -50°, sometimes dropping to -60° on the sections around the summit. “It’s an extraordinary challenge that these Nepalese have just pulled off. It’s a major world first on one of the last great challenges to be taken up in the Himalayas. This ascent is hugely risky due to the cold, acute mountain sickness, snowfall, avalanches and route errors…” bears out the man who, once again, has just demonstrated the pertinence of his forecasts, at the end of an ascent officially completed on Saturday 16 January. “For several days, I’d been watching an ascent window for these mountaineers, who had acclimatised well over recent weeks. I saw the fine weather arriving and was able to give them the start signal by indicating the right moment to set off on this final route to make the dangerous summit. It was the last challenge left in the Himalayas and, inevitably, succeeding is a great pleasure.”

At the discretion of the jet stream

“My work is very similar to that which can be done by a router for a maritime expedition, the only difference being that in sailing the weather watch is constant, the monitoring permanent and without interruption, which makes things a little more complicated”, adds the meteorologist for the highest peaks, though he too has to avoid the pitfalls that punctuate the terrain in this hostile universe: serac barriers or crevasses, the negotiation of which can massively delay climbers, both on the ascent and the descent. “I began routing for mountaineers in the eighties, at a time when they were linking together major routes like the Matterhorn and the Grandes Jorasses… In 1995, with the arrival of the Internet, I was able to send information to the mountaineers taking on climbs in the Himalayas, at which point my remote routing work really took off”, explains the man who now spends his time watching the movements and developments of the jet stream. “In the Himalayas, which are located at a latitude of 35° north, I’m constantly battling with this powerful current of air, which ranges between 50 to 250 km/hr (from 27 to 135 knots) at high altitude. As it does a lap of the Earth, I follow this undulating jet and its twists and turns. Where there is a break in these turns, there is no more breeze and that’s where a favourable weather window presented itself to reach the 8,600-metre K2”, says this enthusiast of the high mountains, who is delighted at the advances made in equipment, oxygen supply and the precision of weather forecasts, which are synonymous with increased safety in the practice of this high-risk sport.

In his exchanges with mountaineers whose rope parties he tracks, Yan Giezendanner sends daily weather forecasts via email and satellite phone indicating what the weather will be like and the various episodes expected (snowfall, foggy patches…). Unlike Marcel van Triest though, who favours written messaging, which can be reread, thus preventing the loss of information in the ambient din of a giant driving flat out, the high mountain router makes phone calls to the expedition leaders who are making headway at altitudes where the satellite connections are very good. “I always speak directly to the team. That enables us to be completely in agreement about the strategy to follow throughout the acclimatisation period and during the final ascent to the summit. When I talk to mountaineers directly, I also get an understanding of what shape they’re in”, reasons the router, who likes to concoct tailored forecasts for expeditions heading up to the lofty heights where planes fly.

In search of a fast track for flight in the open ocean

On the oceans of the globe and when designing a trajectory for the Maxi Edmond de Rothschild, Marcel Van Triest uses the utmost vigilance at all times to monitor and observe the other systems, which operate with their own mechanisms. After the intertropical convergence zone, which more than lived up to its reputation – unpredictable and very difficult to negotiate – Gitana Team’s router is focusing his attention on the train of low-pressure systems in the southern hemisphere. It is at the leading edge of one of these low-pressure systems that he’d like to position the Maxi Edmond de Rothschild, which has latched back on to some more favourable winds to extend her lead as she gulps down the latitudes on her way towards the famous route around the three capes surrounding the Antarctic continent. In this environment, which can serve up extreme conditions round the clock to the men and their boat, he seeks to locate the fast track, which will enable the trimaran geared for offshore flight to avoid a battering from the nasty Deep South and dodge as many zones of turbulence with bad swell as possible so as not to impinge on their ability to maintain high speeds. “Ideally, you want to find the right balance between a route that’s not too long and hence quite far south, and a trajectory that avoids the heavy seas you encounter in the furious fifties. The dream situation, which enables thousands of miles to be covered at the best constant speed, may well exist at the 35th parallel. However, ideal configurations are few and far between and it is by enabling the team to get close to this that the weather router plays a crucial role in this record hunt”, he adds.

Approaching the great liquid desert that forms such an epic passage on this planetary course under sail, Marcel van Triest is stepping up his vigilance in his observation of the ice, a topic he excels in. “In the past ten years, we’ve seen great progress in the ability to obtain images from space. Via the CLS (Satellite Data Collection) models, we have a far greater ability to visualise the presence of icebergs. This year, the austral summer has proven to be fairly ‘calm’. The situation is pretty clear, even though there is quite a large concentration appearing in the South Atlantic, to the north of South Georgia. There doesn’t seem to be any ice in the Pacific, as there was during Banque Populaire V’s record attempt, where there was an enormous iceberg breaking up in the middle of the track, adds Gitana Team’s router, whose work today is designed to break a record he already holds. “Over the past ten years, the role of the weather has intensified a great deal. It is central to the success of an attempt”, he asserts, well-placed to gauge the difficulty of a mission to circumnavigate the blue planet via its express way, which is akin to the north face of a mountain.

“We work in the same atmosphere, but in the sailing universe it’s doubtless more complicated, with numerous wind parameters to factor in, like the strength or direction, as well as the sea state, which is crucially important. However, in an extreme environment, be that on land or at sea, weather routing is a first-rate strategic support in the quest for performance. On the oceans, as is the case on the highest mountains, records are set to be broken”, echoes Yan Giezendanner, which is inevitably what we want and have every reason to believe…

Aboard the Maxi Edmond de Rothschild, there was rather a peculiar atmosphere yesterday; a combination of the very bad and sad news coming from land and the complete contrast with the immediate environment on the 32-metre giant. In fact, for the past 36 hours, Franck Cammas and Charles Caudrelier’s crew has been benefiting from ideal conditions for both the men and the machine. The six sailors are slipping along on a long port tack offshore of the Brazilian coast and should pass the latitude of Cabo Frio and Rio de Janeiro at the end of the day. Indeed, despite the SE’ly breeze easing to around 12 knots since the middle of the night, they are powering southwards at an average speed of around 20 knots. Yesterday was also very interesting purely in terms of miles in the bank as it enabled the sailors of Gitana Team to rack up a lead of over 280 miles in relation to their virtual adversary.

The first week of the record attempt 

After setting sail from Ushant on 10 January at 01:33 UTC, the crew of the Maxi Edmond de Rothschild ticked off the first week of its Jules Verne Trophy record attempt last night offshore of Brazil. Seven days, during which time the latest Gitana has covered 4,700 miles over the ground, namely relative to the surface of the earth, at an average speed of 28 knots. When you’re aware that the latter number includes the 24 hours at a virtual standstill in the doldrums, you get a better understanding of how fast life is whizzing by on Gitana 17.  This long sprint southbound on port tack, which began on exiting the intertropical convergence zone, clearly marks a transition between two highlights of the descent of the Atlantic. These more ‘peaceful’ times now, which are just as quick, are much appreciated by the crew: “All’s well aboard! It’s fairly calm here. The conditions are enabling us to get some rest, as the temperatures are neither too hot nor too cold and the combination of ordered seas and a medium wind are allowing us to make good gains along the course. We must have covered over 700 miles in one day yesterday, with around fifteen knots or so of breeze, which is very pleasing it has to be said”, admitted Yann Riou at daybreak.

Appointment confirmed 

On setting sail on the crewed round the world record under sail one week ago, Franck Cammas, Charles Caudrelier and their weather router Marcel van Triest were targeting a precise date and time to the south of Brazil. The idea is to position themselves offshore of Latin America just as a front bound for the Deep South detaches itself from the continent. The race to make the connection with this train of low-pressure looks nicely on track and should take place early in the week. In just a matter of hours, life aboard will change drastically aboard as they hitch a ride on the express train south. Fleece layers, gloves and hats will make their comeback on the deck of the blue flying maxi-trimaran, whilst the permanent whistling of the appendages will cause the decibels to ratchet up. As such, days synonymous with a transition, like those the six members of the crew are currently experiencing, are a precious commodity for getting rest and recharging the batteries.