Code green

Pascal Bidegorry confirms Banque Populaire maxi-tri departure

One month after arriving in the US and going on stand-by officially, so a weather window has finally openedand, like Groupama 3, the Banque Populaire V maxi-tri will set off westbound across the North Atlantic on a course between the Ambrose Light, off New York harbour and the finish line, between the Lizard and Ushant.

Having waited most of the spring in Cadiz for a suitable weather to attempt the Route of Discovery record to San Salvador in the Bahamas [they eventually threw in the towel when one didn't materialise], so this is the first occasion this year that a decent weather window has opened up for Bidegorry, navigator Marcel van Triest and his crew to set out on the first record attempt aboard their maxi-tri. Bidegorry and van Triest had seen a potential weather window open up on 14 July, but unfortunately it closed again.

"This is the moment we have been waiting and for which we have prepared, and all the crew are looking forward to the departure with much pleasure," says Bidegorry. "We finally will be able to see what our Banque Populaire maxi-trimaran has under the bonnet! We will leave New York in southwesterlies and for the moment the routing shows a crossing only on one tack. We shall profit from a good wind for the start, with the flow building thereafter. Sailing will be all about playing a good game of positioning ourselves compared to the sea state. Our advantage is that we do not need 40 knots to go quickly. The only uncertainty at the moment is what will happen to the wind at the end of the course. But overall this window is very interesting and allows us to consider a crossing within the record time… ”.

Assuming all goes according to plan, this will be Banque Populaire's first record attempt and good training for her attempt on the Jules Verne Trophy around the world non-stop this winter.

“The course ahead can be broken into three parts," says Bidegorry. "The first part, the first 24 hours to the Grand Banks. We leave New York in southwesterlies - a warm wind and in relatively hot water [from the Gulf Stream]. We will then get into the cold Labrador current closer to the Grand Banks, where we will see a change of climate and temperature in a rather radical way over very little time. Then we will have two days to cross towards Europe, always in southwesterlies from a depression [to the north]. The final day is always the most random at the time of the start, second guessing the trajectory of the depression's centre when one is due to arrive on the other side.”

And so Pascal Bidégorry and his 11 crew are on the point of writing the first page of their book of oceanic records, less than one year after the launch of Banque Populaire V. Tomorrow afternoon, they will leave the Brooklyn bridge behind them to head for the start zone.

Crew line-up

Pascal Bidégorry, skipper
Ronan Lucas
Yvan Ravussin (CH): helm
Jean Baptiste Le Vaillant: helm
Pierre Yves Moreau
Ewen Le Clech
Manu Le Borgne : helm
Sébastien Audigane
Florent Chastel
Xavier Revil
Kévin Escoffier
Marcel Van Triest : navigator