Groupama 3 sets off on first 2009 tour

Cammas' new crew has some rockstar additions!

Yesterday morning at dawn, the newly rebuilt Groupama 3 set sail from her base in Lorient, with skipper Franck Cammas and his ten crewmen on board. Ahead of them lies their initial program for 2009 - with roughly 13000 miles of sailing and two record attempts.

First up Groupama 3 is heading for Istanbul, Turkey, some 3,000 miles away where the Groupama insurance company operates as 'Basak Groupama'.

"We will discover new places to sail, especially the eastern Mediterranean, with the Aegean, Ionian islands, the Dardanelles and Istanbul," says Cammas. "This will be excellent training for the crew and a good test for the new version of Groupama 3 because while the image of the Mediterranean is calm, that is often misleading. The sea can be short and nasty."

"When we began our partnership with Franck 12 years ago, we were not present in these countries," said Frédérique Granado, Director of External Communications Groupama. "They are set to discover Groupama 3 and its crew promoting the Group's values. Together, our aim to to become one of the top ten European insurers by 2012."

The new crew for Groupama 3 see the return of South Africa bowman Jan Dekker, a long term part of the team despite a stint during the 32nd America's Cup on the bow with Alinghi. Also on board is American navigator Stan Honey. An engineering graduate from the prestigious American universities Yale and Stanford, Honey set various records on board Steve Fossett's maxi-catamaran Playstation but it is best known as navigator on the winning boat, ABN AMRO One, in the last Volvo Ocean Race: "I am very pleased to join the team Groupama," said Honey. "The boat is very fast and I like Franck Cammas' rational approach. I started working with Sylvain Mondon from Météo France, which is based in Toulouse who is very competent. It remains for me to discover how the crew is at sea. I can not wait to be there and I know this is a great opportunity. I know many people who would want to be in my place. "

Another newcomer aboard Groupama 3 is Pierre Pennec. Pennec represented France in the Tornado catamaran for the Olympic Games in Sydney and has already raced as tactician aboard Groupama 2 in the ORMA Grand Prix in 2005. This time, Pennec will be one of the helmsmen as Cammas and his crew set out on their second attempt on the Jules Verne Trophy: "It's a new challenge for me to go off," said Pennec. "Both from personal and technical points of view, I have a lot to learn. But I like this team. It is very professional and also very endearing. And besides, the journey to Istanbul is very rich, very varied. We will have adapt to a lot of different conditions."

Also part of the team for the Mediterranean tour will be solo round the world sailor Thomas Coville, recently returned from having come close to breaking Francis Joyon's outright record.

On the weather aside, the start looks fast for Groupama 3, downwind to Gibraltar. After that, it will be another story, especially in the Mediterranean.

"I have known Frank for years, because we often sailed against one another in the ORMA class. I know what he's like, but also the quality of the organisation with the Groupama team. We have already begun to discuss things since I returned from my round the world sailing aboard Sodebo. It's really very pleasant to work with a team as open as this," said Coville.

Between now and June the maxi-trimaran is to visit six Groupama subsidiaries:
- Basak Groupama in Istanbul, Turkey from 25 to 29 March
- Groupama Phoenix in Athens, Greece from 3 to 7 April
- Groupama Assicurazioni - Nuova Tirrena in Venice from 16 to 19 April
- Groupama Assicurazioni - Nuova Tirrena in Genoa in Italy from 25 to 27 April
- The Star in Tunis in Tunisia from 5 to 7 June
- Groupama Seguros in Valencia, Spain from 12 to 14 June
- Groupama Seguros in Lisbon, Portugal from June 19 to 21

Groupama 3's 2009 program will include three record attempts:

- From May 6 to June 2: 'TransMed' between Marseilles, France and Carthage, Tunisia currently held by Orange 2 with a time of 17 hours and 56 minutes
- July 7 to August 19: attempting to better their own time of 99 hours and 57 minutes west to east across the North Atlantic, from New York to the Lizard
From 1 November: on stand-by for the Jules Verne Trophy held by Orange 2 witha time of 50 days, 16 hours and 20 minutes

The crew
- Franck Cammas, skipper, watch leader and helmsman
- Steve Ravussin, watch leader, media man and helmsman
- Fred le Peutrec, watch leader, helmsman and boat manager
- Stan Honey, navigator
- Bruno Jeanjean, trimmer
- Loïc Le Mignon, helmsman and responsible for rigging
- Jacques Caraës, crewman and second media man
- Ronan Le Goff, crewman and on board medic
- Pierre Pennec, helmsman
- Yann Riou, electronics and information
- Thomas Coville, helmsman

More photos on page 2....