Blast off

Groupama 3 sets sail on the Transmed record

Franck Cammas' maxi trimaran Groupama 3 set sail on the Transmed record between Marseille and Carthage at 07:19 GMT exactly according to the World Sailing Speed Record Council timer. The green 105ft tri must reach the finish line before 01:15:33 tomorrow to beat the record of 17 hours 56 minutes 33 seconds set by Bruno Peyron on board the maxi cat Orange 2 in 2004.
 
Squalls and poor visibility accompanied Groupama 3 to the line at Pomégues (43° 15.7'N- 005° 17.4E), off Marseille's off-lying island of Friuli. At the time Groupama 3 was already making 32 knots under double reefed mainsail, staysail and gennaker. The atmosphere on board was of intense concentration as the conditions expected down the 458 miles route are expected to be tough.

The routing has them setting off on starboard gybe. The first scheduled gybe is around 1200 GMT between 50 and 70 miles northeast of the Balearic Islands. At this time the forecast indicates the swell reaching 4-4.5m and the wind blowing 30-35 knots with gusts of up to 40.

Cammas' crew for the Transmed attempt comprises Fred le Peutrec, Steve Ravussin, Loïc Le Mignon, Ronan Le Goff, Lionel Lemonchois and Thomas Coville, Ashore their meteo adviser and router is Sylvain Mondon.

More photos of the start itself on page 2...