The giant trimaran Groupama 3, skippered by Franck Cammas, is
today beginning a stand-by period for a fresh attempt at conquering the
Jules Verne Trophy.
 
Franck Cammas said, “Groupama 3 has never been as solid as she is today.
That clearly isn’t a performance bond as she’s a prototype, but we’ve done
everything we can to ensure she is capable of getting us safely back to
port. It’s up to us to find the right pace and some acceptable weather
conditions, even though it’s evident that on a round the world we’ll have to
tackle some bad weather. This is as much the difficulty of the Jules Verne
Trophy as the appeal”.
 
Cammas continued, “We’re giving ourselves until 5th February to set off.
Beyond that date, we’ll have to give up our stand-by for two reasons: the
first is that it will become very risky to sail in the Southern Ocean,
because the summer in the Southern hemisphere will be over, resulting in
violent winds, longer nights and numerous icebergs.”