Category: Gitana Team
In repair prior to another attempt
Last Friday, after three days at sea on their first round the world record attempt, the crew of the Maxi Edmond de Rothschild opted to turn back after damage resulting from impact with a UFO. Franck Cammas, Charles Caudrelier and their four crew managed to make it back to their port of registry in Lorient yesterday evening. A few hours later, the shore team had already set to work dismantling and repairing the damaged appendages in order to enable the sailors of Gitana Team to set sail again in as short a timeframe as possible, as soon as a favourable weather window opens up. Indeed, there is no time to lose as the five-arrow racing stable’s objective remains very much intact: to set sail this winter to have a stab at securing the Jules Verne Trophy.
A long detour for the return journey
The Maxi Edmond de Rothschild had to take a big detour to the west of the Azores before she could point her bows back towards Brittany, a scenario Marcel van Triest had predicted as soon as the decision was taken to turn back last Friday: “We had to quickly make a choice so as not to lose too much time during our return trip, which was already shaping up to be quite long. In 48hrs, a low-pressure system dropping down from the north and stretching up as far as the north of Madeira, generating 6 to 7 metre seas and 50 to 60 knots of wind on its western face was set to sprawl itself across our course. This phenomenon would force us to make a major detour, but it was a lot safer for the boat. Our aim is to set sail again very quickly, but to do that we need to know how to be conservative with regards the boat and the men.”
“Come back stronger!”
Charles Caudrelier, who shares the helm of the Maxi Edmond de Rothschild with Franck Cammas, shared his thoughts this lunchtime, after a good night on shore: “The mindset within the crew is positive. We hit something, which is unfortunate, but that’s part and parcel of the history of offshore racing. On a positive, the Maxi Edmond de Rothschild is not badly damaged so the repairs will be relatively quick. At sea, we noted a considerable difference in performance after our damage and we were certainly handicapped so in this regard the decision was pretty simple. The time set by the crew of Idec is going to take some beating and the slightest handicap is a real problem if we’re going to stand a chance of outpacing them. That really tipped the scales, especially as the upcoming weather didn’t look excellent to us and that seems to be how things are playing out. Another very positive point about this first attempt is the experience we gained doing it. We still lack sailing time and this week in race and delivery mode has been highly beneficial, as we don’t encounter such intense conditions in training. The boat will set sail again with a greater degree of reliability, and the crew will be all the stronger! We have this massive opportunity to be able to have another go at the record and today our thoughts go out to our friends in the Vendée Globe who won’t have this same possibility. We know how lucky we are, we just need to be patient!“
A good week dockside
The special feature of speed records is that they can offer crews a second chance to attack them! It is this opportunity that the racing stable fitted out by Ariane and Benjamin de Rothschild is snapping up today by returning to its technical base to effect repairs and set off again with a boat able to sail at her true potential. This Thursday morning, the whole of the shore crew had rallied together to dismantle the parts which need to be worked on. According to the first diagnosis, the latest addition to the Gitana fleet will likely be out of action for a good week before she can return to the water for a trip out to get her back in operation again: “We have been working on preparing for the necessary repairs ever since the boat turned back. As such, this morning, everyone knew what they had to do and the dismantling and the usual structural checks were able to get underway very quickly. The job list is clear, but the time required for the repairs cannot be compressed down if we want to do things right; especially with regards the bonding and drying times on the foil”, explained the Technical Director, Pierre Tissier.
Right now, at the same time as the work being undertaken by the shore crew, Gitana Team’s weather cell is back in action observing potential weather windows. Indeed, once the Maxi Edmond de Rothschild is repaired, we’ll have to wait again and be ready to snap up a favourable weather window to attack the record of 40 days 23 hours and 30 minutes for the Jules Verne Trophy, which is the time set by Francis Joyon and his men in 2017.
Reminder of the events and the damage
25 November 02:26 UTC – The decision to switch to code green to set sail was made shortly before 20:00 UTC the day before. In Lorient, the departure sequence was very speedy and the latest of the Gitanas was soon making headway towards the start line and the island of Ushant at over 40 knots. The crew of the Maxi Edmond de Rothschild was keen to make the most of a front rolling through and a NW’ly breeze to set sail on the Jules Verne Trophy. It is 02:36 UTC on the dot when the Cammas-Caudrelier pairing and its men start the stopwatch and leave Le Créac’h lighthouse in the wake of their 32-metre flying giant.
26 November 14:00 UTC – On Thursday afternoon, whilst slipping along downwind at over 30 knots between the Azores and Madeira, the Maxi Edmond de Rothschild hits a UFO (Unidentified Floating Object). The impact is violent and immediately slows the 32-metre giant. Franck Cammas and Charles Caudrelier’s team alerts its shore crew and begins its investigations. The impact, which occurred around the rudder on the port float, and its trim tab in particular, has led to the breakage of part of the steering system. David Boileau immediately dons his boat captain’s hat and quickly effects a repair. After 1hr at a gentle pace, the latest of the Gitanas is back on track for her high-speed record. Visually, the rudder blade is not damaged, but the appendage proves to be hard to manipulate, which suggests that the system for raising and lowering the port rudder is damaged. For all that, checking this element is impossible as the area situated at the end of the float is too exposed and too dangerous to venture out to. The Maxi Edmond de Rothschild continues her journey towards the equator.
27 November 10:00 UTC – To adjust their trajectory towards the equator, the men of Gitana put in several gybes. During the second, undertaken in the early hours of the morning, whilst they’re sailing on port tack, those on watch on deck notice that the port foil is also damaged and the crew find evidence that leaves no room for doubt; it is the result of an impact, likely that suffered the previous afternoon.
27 November 21:00 UTC – Despite the crew being motivated to carry on, there is a series of exchanges throughout the day with Cyril Dardashti, the manager of the team, Pierre Tissier, the Technical Director, and Sébastien Sainson, manager of the design office. Together, they conclude that the appendage can be repaired at sea, but the crew will no longer be able to sail the boat at her full potential, even after the repair. After consulting their weather router, Marcel van Triest, and given the position of the Maxi Edmond de Rothschild, namely less than 2,000 miles from the start, the decision is taken to turn back and return to Lorient to effect repairs so they can get back on standby as quickly as possible.
2 December 19:30 UTC – Five days after interrupting their record attempt, the six sailors on the Maxi Edmond de Rothschild make it back to Lorient, welcomed by the members of Gitana Team, who are ready to take up the baton.
The Gitana Team interrupts its Jules Verne Trophy attempt
After three days at sea on their first round the world record attempt, Franck Cammas and Charles Caudrelier, in agreement with Cyril Dardashti, the director of the five-arrow racing stable, have this evening taken the decision to interrupt their record bid and return to their port of registry. This announcement comes as a result of damage that occurred when the boat collided with a UFO* yesterday, rendering it impossible for the crew to sail the Maxi Edmond de Rothschild at her full potential. Currently situated to the north of the Cape Verde archipelago, the sailors that make up Gitana Team are positioned some 1,900 miles from Lorient. Gitana 17 is now pointing her bows towards this destination.
“The decision to turn back really hasn’t been an easy one to make. It was carefully thought out and all the different parties involved in the project were consulted and the crew made the decision. It is motivated by two elements: the incident that occurred yesterday and the technical consequences discovered this afternoon, together with the quality of the window we’ve enlisted in. Indeed, day after day, our weather observations are confirming that the South Atlantic will not be showing us her best side, with a Saint Helena High that is a long way south, forcing us not just to take a big detour around the outside but also to plunge deep into the south to round the Cape of Good Hope. Even though the routing is still giving us a passage within the record time, we know that such a feat would require us to be at our full potential, which unfortunately is no longer the case. Turning back today means we can quickly return to our technical base, effect the necessary repairs and then very quickly get back on standby ready to set sail again this winter to conquer the Jules Verne Trophy”, concluded Cyril Dardashti.
When setting sail from Ushant in the early hours of Wednesday, the possibility of turning back was clearly mentioned by Franck Cammas before leaving terra firma. Though the doubts of the co-skipper of the Maxi Edmond de Rothschild were more geared around the reliability of the weather window that his crew were preparing to take on, this scenario of breaking gear was also among the cases discussed within the team in the run-up to the departure. This is not an unprecedented situation in the Jules Verne Trophy, in fact it even forms an integral part of the history of the record! Ironically, on this exact same date some 4 years ago, the crew of Idec opted to turn back whilst it was making headway to the south of the doldrums following a deterioration in the weather window. However, this first aborted attempt did not prevent them from setting sail again nineteen days later and returning to Ushant on 26 January 2017, the record and an exceptional new reference time in the bag.
REVIEW OF THE DAMAGE
26 November 14:00 UTC
On Thursday afternoon, whilst slipping along downwind at over 30 knots between the Azores and Madeira, the Maxi Edmond de Rothschild hits a UFO (Unidentified Floating Object). The impact is violent, immediately causing the 32-metre giant to slow. Franck Cammas and Charles Caudrelier’s crew alerts the shore team and begins its investigations. The effect of the impact on the rudder of the port float and more precisely its trim tab, has caused a piece of the steering system to break. David Boileau immediately switches back to his role of boat captain and quickly proceeds with the repair. After 1hr at a reduced pace, the latest addition to the Gitana fleet gets back out on the hunt for the record at high speed. Visually, the rudder blade is not damaged but the appendage proves to be hard to manipulate, which suggests there is damage to the system for raising and lowering the port rudder. For all that, a check is impossible as the area located at the end of the float is too exposed and too dangerous to venture out to. The Maxi Edmond de Rothschild continues her course towards the equator.
27 November 09:00 UTC
To adjust their trajectory towards the equator, the men of Gitana put in several gybes. During the second, completed in the morning, when switching onto port tack, those on watch on deck notice that the port foil is also damaged and the evidence the crew discovers leave no room for doubt; they are the result of an impact, likely the same one suffered yesterday afternoon. Despite the crew being motivated to carry on, a series of exchanges throughout the day with their technical director, Pierre Tissier, and the manager of the design office, Sébastien Sainson, conclude that the appendage can be repaired at sea but the crew would no longer be able to use it at its full potential.
The Gitana Team wish the crew of Sodebo every success with their attempt.
*UFO: Unidentified floating object
Settling into life in the fast track!
Since Tuesday evening, at 20:37 UTC on the dot, and their departure from the dock in Lorient to make for the start line off the north-west tip of Brittany, the pace has continued to pick up for the men of the Maxi Edmond de Rothschild. At 02:26 UTC, on Wednesday 25 November, on a pitch-black autumn night on the back of a rainy front, the 32-metres giant crossed the virtual line stretching between Ushant and Lizard Point, the southernmost tip of England, thus triggering the stopwatch for its first Jules Verne Trophy attempt. Since that time, Franck Cammas, Charles Caudrelier and their four crew have already covered over 1000 miles in relation to the goal. This morning, they passed the latitude of the Azores and will this evening pass that of Madeira… The pace is quick, very quick, but of course that is the aim of a speed record. At the 14:30 UTC position report, the crew boasted a lead of 71.6 miles in relation to the record held by Francis Joyon and Idec Sport.
A corridor southwards
By setting sail from Ushant in the early hours of Wednesday morning, the Maxi Edmond de Rothschild’s weather cell, comprising the two skippers and their router Marcel van Triest, were targeting a vein of quite clean air, synonymous with high speeds along a virtually straight-line course towards the trade wind of the northern hemisphere and then on to the equator. However, this fine trajectory involves quite a work-up and aboard the latest addition to the Gitana fleet, the crew has had to quickly throw themselves in at the deep end.
In fact, during the passage of over 30 hours, the six sailors have had to put in two gybes to stay inside this corridor of breeze, with the emphasis on a number of headsail changes in a constant bid to adjust their trajectory to face the conditions, which Charles Caudrelier described yesterday morning as shifty: “The first night was lively and intense! The wind was very shifty and though the seas weren’t very high, they were very messy and we spent our first night under autopilot as it was impossible to hand steer.” Last night, whilst Gitana 17 was beginning her second day of the record attempt, the wind and the seas picked up considerably offshore of the Iberian peninsula with “4.5 to 5-metre waves and a powerful 25-30-knot NNE’ly breeze gusting up to 40 knots.” Suffice to say that being constantly powered up at over 30 knots is proving to be a bracing introduction for the sailors of Gitana Team.
The latest generation maxi-trimarans, of which the Maxi Edmond de Rothschild is the pioneer, are sending the speedos into turmoil at the start of this record. The 2019 edition of the Brest Atlantiques gave us a chance to witness this in action, with a blistering pace from the get-go and an express exit from the Bay of Biscay despite the boisterous conditions. A year on, history is repeating itself and the intensity of the start of this Jules Verne Trophy is certainly living up to expectations. At 13:45 UTC, the Cammas – Caudrelier pairing and their crew had devoured over 1,200 miles over the ground at an average speed of 35 knots!
A record attempt albeit with some semblance of a duel
“The writing of one of the legendary pages of this Jules Verne Trophy began last night”, stated Yann Eliès yesterday, during the live broadcast filmed at the Gitana Team’s base.
Indeed, it won’t have escaped anyone that not one but two boats set sail from the foot of Le Créac’h lighthouse in the early hours of Wednesday. Sodebo set off at 01:55 UTC and the Maxi Edmond de Rothschild followed in her wake 31 minutes later at 02:26 UTC.
These virtually simultaneous starts may be reminiscent of a race set-up, but there’s one key point to remember: the two giants are on the hunt for the record set by Francis Joyon and hence it is a race against the clock to better the time set by Idec Sport in 2017. However, it would be an untruth not to mention the adversary and the mano a mano currently playing out in the descent of the Atlantic.
“Setting sail as two boats? The idea of setting sail at the same time as Sodebo was very much on our minds since Thomas Coville team was on standby at the same time as us. From the outset, the prospect of two boats setting off was quite appealing. It’s a chance to emulate one another, added motivation! And in terms of safety it’s good too,” admitted Franck Cammas prior to the start.
(FR) L’équipage du Maxi Edmond de Rothschild a quitté Lorient et est en route vers la ligne départ
Departure postponed for today but a new window targeted for Thursday!
Record hunting is not a bed of roses, but the many variables, which have inevitably been part and parcel of life for the Gitana Team and her crew since the start of standby, were known about by one and all before they decided to take on the Jules Verne Trophy. There are a great many expectations and the desire to see the six sailors of the Maxi Edmond de Rothschild setting sail is still intact, but the five-arrow stable’s weather cell is keeping a cool head to give itself every chance to beat the record of 40 days 23 hours and 30 minutes set by Francis Joyon and his team in 2017. The departure, which was still being envisaged yesterday, for late in the day this Tuesday 24 November is no longer a possibility, but the team remains on code yellow as another opportunity might well present itself on Thursday.
No departure today
Yesterday, by switching to code yellow, a change of colour synonymous with a possible departure offshore of the north-west tip of Brittany in 48 hours’ time, the Gitana Team had initiated the final round of preparations: PCR tests validated for everyone, loading of sailors’ provisions and their personal bags… The Maxi Edmond de Rothschild was ready to go, with everything in place for her first circumnavigation. For all that, the weather cell comprising Franck Cammas, Charles Caudrelier, Marcel van Triest and Cyril Dardashti, was transparent: “Even though it varies a little from one model to the other, including a 6-hour deal to negotiate the doldrums, there is every chance that the crew can make the southern hemisphere in 4 days and 12 hours. However, that’s where the situation becomes complicated and blurred”, explained the onshore router yesterday. “We’re faced with a very shifty situation that is evolving quickly. The danger is that we’ll miss the train and get crushed between two areas of high pressure in the South Atlantic. It poses a real threat, even though there is still a possibility of linking onto a course that takes us behind the high pressure. Right now, in this very progressive system, it’s circulating very low down in the south.”
The South Atlantic and its descent in the line of sight
The grib file forecasts, which are updated and analysed morning and evening, have unfortunately seen the trend referred to yesterday play out. “The window is still favourable in the North Atlantic, with a passage time to the equator within the current record time held by Spindrift of under 5 days, However, the South Atlantic isn’t shaping up as we would have liked. Today, the routing isn’t just taking us on a big looped circuit to get around the Saint Helena High, which is extending out a long way to the west, it is also sending us a long way south, to around 47°, to secure a reasonable passage time at Cape Agulhas, which marks the entrance to the Indian Ocean. The detection of ice in the area must also be taken into account as that’s something we’ll have to contend with if would descend so far South…” explained Franck Cammas this morning at the end of the weather briefing.
“The models have not been very in phase over recent weeks. The differences and the scenarios vary a great deal between the European model (CEP) and the American model (GFS) and that’s currently making our work to pinpoint the right departure window rather complicated. That’s nothing new though… it’s all part of the strategy of a challenge like this,” confided Marcel van Triest.
This Tuesday 24 November could have been departure day for the men of the Maxi Edmond de Rothschild and all the team, who are supporting them in this quest for the outright round the world sailing speed record, but instead it will be another day of waiting, in the hope that the models match up and that a route opens up to release the 32-metre maxi-trimaran and her crew, who are eager to show off the true potential of the giant on a planetary scale.
More informations : http://www.gitana-team.com/en/news_actu.aspx?id=1253
Orange Sunday!
Exactly one week on from the first weather window, which was ultimately rejected, the crew of the Maxi Edmond de Rothschild has seen another departure opportunity taking shape offshore of Ushant from late in the day on Tuesday. As such, this morning, in agreement with their onshore router Marcel van Triest and Cyril Dardashti, the director of the five-arrow racing stable, Franck Cammas and Charles Caudrelier have triggered code orange among their crew and Gitana Team.
“This looks like a promising window with a very fine passage time to the equator for the moment. The idea is to set sail from the north-west tip of Brittany once an Atlantic front has rolled through. The coming days will enable us to adjust this target window, but today we’re aiming at crossing the start line on Tuesday night through into Wednesday,” confided Charles Caudrelier.
This information is naturally intended to be viewed simply as a possibility. Indeed, the episode last week, which saw a deterioration in the target departure window, serves as a reminder of this. In terms of weather and the record hunting, things can change very quickly in one direction or another. As a result, through until the point where the virtual start line is crossed offshore of Le Créac’h lighthouse, on the island of Ushant, the men of Gitana Team may well decide to postpone their departure and turn back.
“This launch window is one of the only things we can really choose in this record attempt so we’re putting in every effort to get it right. This choice has implications for the first third of the course, through until the Cape of Good Hope, which is already a very sizeable chunk. It’s a long way, as we’re talking about a forecast of over 10 days, but this does come into play in our departure criteria. We’re after optimum conditions to have a manageable departure, a quick trajectory towards the equator and then the right timing to hook onto a train of depressions in the South Atlantic. This is the sequence we’re targeting,” explained Franck Cammas.
It’s worth noting that Gitana 17, which has been on standby in Lorient since 1 November, will be tackling her very first Jules Verne Trophy with six sailors aboard, including the two skippers of the Maxi Edmond de Rothschild. In this attempt to break the record of 40 days 23 hours and 30 minutes, held by Francis Joyon and the men of Idec Sport since 2017, Franck Cammas and Charles Caudrelier will be accompanied by Morgan Lagravière, Yann Riou, Erwan Israël and David Boileau.