(Day 6 - January 30, 2008; 18:38 UTC) The passage of the equator is the first intermediary time, which enables a direct insight into how capable a candidate is of winning the Jules Verne Trophy. Nearly a day ahead over the round the world reference course, the 103-foot maxi trimaran Groupama 3 has gained a 408 mile lead and has just achieved the best ever time by a yacht between Ushant, France and the equator: 6 days 6 hours 24 minutes!
Already sailing in the Southern hemisphere this Wednesday afternoon, Groupama 3 confirms what it had already demonstrated last summer when it racked up four Atlantic records: though it has no inhibitions in wind in excess of 25 knots, in relation to Bruno Peyron's catamaran, it has demonstrated remarkable pace below fifteen knots of breeze! Weather conditions haven't been particularly favorable to this point, and Cammas theorizes that a time of five days would have been achievable given a similar weather sequence that Francis Joyon enjoyed during his recent solo round the world record run.
http://www.cammas-groupama.com/en