10 may. Groupama 4 arrived 3rd

Franck Cammas and his crew arrived in third after fending off fourth-placed Telefónica in another tense match race.

Groupama 4 crossed the Miami finish line at 00:29 :04 UTC (02h29 FH) after 17 days 07 hours 29 minutes and 04 seconds at sea.

With six of nine offshore legs now complete, Telefónica leads with 164 points, followed by Groupama on 153, CAMPER on 149 and PUMA on 147.
Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing, in fifth place, are expected at about 0800 UTC on Thursday.

Coming up!

04 May. Fresh fish for lunch!

"Yesterday evening at sunset, I knocked myself up a flying fish sashimi. The foolhardy thing hadn't even recorded a flight plan, it just came and landed on the deck of Groupama 4. I'm not going to pretend that I enjoyed it, because on the one hand, I don't know how to prepare sashimi, and on the other, a flying fish raw without any seasoning isn't really very nice. That said, it's quite pleasant to taste some flesh whose freshness is unquestionable and doesn't need to be rehydrated. It makes you feel as if you're assimilating vitamins by a means other than little tablets. In all, it's more of a psychological than a flavour comfort." tells Yann. And above all, enjoy your meal!

02 may. Smooth!

In the Volvo Ocean Race, the things can move fast... Groupama 4 is catching up with the rest of the fleet through nice weather conditions: "We have a beam wind of around a dozen knots, flat seas and some rare, tepid sea spray. Our life at the extreme is extremely pleasant. And that's just as well, as it would appear that we're here for a fair old while yet, before we get a chance to stretch our legs on Miami Beach."

26 apr. In a bloody shambles

"On deck, the focus is on the trimming and the helm, because in addition to being light, the wind is shifty and requires constant attention. We're attempting to get Groupama 4 making headway as best we can with what we have, which isn't a lot. Right now, the wind has just picked up slightly and is struggling to hit 10 knots. [...] Unfortunately, this new wind will move in from the north east so it'll hit our rivals first. In the short term, this translates as a speed differential, which is often not in our favour...". says Yann. A bit stressful for the crew because in these conditions, there's nothing stopping the fleet from just taking off in front of them! And on the tourism side, nothing but fields of oil rigs along the Brazilian coast!

In video

24 Apr. Téléfonica, 18.3, Sarkozy 26

On sunday, Groupama 4 was racing again with a complete mast this time! And it seems that the presidential elections were omnipresent during the start: “On deck, as at the chart table, we're keeping a close eye on how the trajectories of the other boats are evolving. At each standing, the navigator announces each of the speeds over the intercom. However, between "PUMA, 18 knots", "Téléfonica, 18.3", I briefly heard a "Hollande: 28" and "Sarkozy: 26" slip in (Election time in France yesterday). How do we know that? There's no internet access aboard the Volvo boats, but the receipt of a certain number of emails is allowed, with a round-up of the day's news thrown in among other things. Just enough so as we're still in the loop when we arrive at our stopovers. »

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