Jules Verne Trophy.

Maxi Edmond de Rothschild started his second attempt

Tracking in real time  www.gitana-team.com/en

With the precision of a metronome it was at 2 hours 33 minutes and 46 seconds that the Maxi Edmond de Rothschild kicked off on Sunday 10 January in a new record attempt for the Jules Verne Trophy. With a northeast wind of about twenty knots and in a manageable sea, the six sailors left the island of Ouessant at their side and saluted for the last time the Créac’h, emblematic lighthouse of this journey. Having left their base in Lorient a few hours earlier, just before sunset, Franck Cammas, Charles Caudrelier, Morgan Lagravière, David Boileau, Yann Riou and Erwan Israel had to wait a few hours at sea to adjust their departure time as best as possible; Accurate timekeeping, cleverly calculated with his ground-based weather router Marcel van Triest, a true seventh man on board. Because in a record like the Jules Verne Trophy, every minute counts! It must be said that with their time of 40 days 23 hours and 30 minutes, Francis Joyon and the Idec Sport team have set the bar very high. To break the record and become the tenth crew to inscribe their name on this monument of ocean racing, the men of the Maxi Edmond de Rothschild will have to return to the tip of Brittany before February 20 at 2 hours 3 minutes and 15 minutes . seconds. By then, nearly 22,000 nautical miles are ahead and a high-speed planetary adventure awaits. To break the record and become the tenth crew to inscribe their name on this monument of ocean racing, the men of the Maxi Edmond de Rothschild will have to return to the tip of Brittany before February 20 at 2 hours 3 minutes and 15 minutes . seconds. By then, nearly 22,000 nautical miles are ahead and a high-speed planetary adventure awaits. To break the record and become the tenth crew to inscribe their name on this monument of ocean racing, the men of the Maxi Edmond de Rothschild will have to return to the tip of Brittany before February 20 at 2 hours 3 minutes and 15 minutes . seconds. By then, nearly 22,000 nautical miles are ahead and a high-speed planetary adventure awaits.

Second attempt and departure of the second night

It seems that the moonlit outings are to the taste of the sailors of the Maxi Edmond de Rothschild. On November 25, for the Gitana Team’s first attempt at the Jules Verne Trophy, the line was crossed in the privacy of the dark night, at 3:26 in the morning precisely. A month and a half later, history repeats itself. Tonight, at 2 hours 33 minutes and 46 seconds, Franck Cammas, Charles Caudrelier and their four crew members start the clock again for the world tour record aboard the first maxi-trimaran designed to fly on the high seas . Remember that at the end of November the six men had to interrupt their voyage across the North Atlantic due to damage to the giant’s rudder and port wing; Damage resulting from an impact with a UFO. Back in Lorient in early December, they had been able to count on the responsiveness of the technical team to repair as quickly as possible and be back on hold before the end of the year celebrations. Since then, everyone has been waiting for the right window, and in recent days no one has hidden their impatience to leave as soon as possible.

A fast path and compromises

“We will have a northeast wind of 15-20 knots on the line, with very manageable seas. But it will get stronger quickly and we should have the first 24 hours with quite a bit of wind and maneuvering, especially in Cape Finisterre, before we can reach the trade winds. ”Franck Cammas explained briefly. Throughout the Iberian Peninsula it will all be a matter of compromise and the crew will have to slide down a narrow corridor to win south, not too close to the coast where the wind could be out of breath, nor too far out to sea. they withstand strong seas that do not drive at speed. The whole difficulty of this Jules Verne Trophy outing is finding and then mastering the decisive meteorological sequence between North and South in order to conquer the South Seas as quickly as possible. To achieve this, the Cammas-Caudrelier duo and their four companions know that they will have to be precise in their trajectory to keep up with the rhythm imposed by the weather pattern. Based on the latest routes, the return times for the first third of the route are promising.

A whole team in your path
While the Maxi Edmond de Rothschild was about to take off to the applause of a large crowd despite the winter weather that reigned this Saturday afternoon, Cyril Dardashti, director of the Gitana Team, did not hide his joy. : “We are on our second outing this winter and we are very happy that this window is opening to allow the crew to express themselves on the water. It has been a month since the boat was repaired that we prepare to take advantage of a favorable situation. in the Jules Verne Trophy is one of the main goals of our program. With Team Verdier, we envisioned and designed this boat for this kind of great record with the aim of experiencing high seas flying. It’s a pleasure to get into the game in a concrete The times predicted by Marcel van Triest and the route are good, both at the equator and at the Cap des Aiguilles; the crew and the boat are well prepared; we can say that there is only more! The guys can’t wait to go, our shipowners, the technical team and all the employees of the Edmond de Rothschild group are behind. This is what we are all waiting for, for the ship to leave and face this fabulous record! ”