Banque Populaire V-Jules Verne Record Attempt- 11/21/11

[Doug Lord]

She will leave momentarily-can find no ongoing info except this:
http://brianthompsonsailing.blogspot...-on-jules.html

[Doug Lord]

Tracker: http://www.voile.banquepopulaire.fr/...hie-c5191.html

[redreuben]

If only I had kept up the French classes !
RR

[Doug Lord]

Yeah, I've had "google translate" for three years and all of a sudden it doesn't work with IE. Very frustrating-missing some good stuff... The tracker is pretty clear, though: BP V is "racing" against Groupamas record.

[bertho]

Trophee Jules Verne
BP V is going south at 32 knt++...whatcha ! probably fun fun onboard...!
and the wind is just coming now !

bertho

[Corley]

Translation by "Laurent" on Sailing Anarchy forums

Posted Today, 02:59 PM

First audio from Loic Peyron; you can find it here:

http://www.voile.ban...5617.html#suite

Loose translation: (my comments in italic)

"A bit rough, from the start; the sea state is not lined up with the wind direction. We are making big jumps, so we calmed down the game a bit, but everything is fine. We are putting together an interesting little average speed above 30 knots (yes, he said LITTLE average speed ABOVE 30 KNOTS...), which is obviously well within the limits of the "baby"... But we must be fast! Because this is not an easy record to break.

It was almost ideal starting conditions; we left Brest yesterday night in a beautiful sunset, it was much simpler and the shore crew towed us until midnight, through the "Chenal du Four" (a famous pass in the middle of small islands and rocks, between the continent and Ushant); there was no wind at all. Then they released us, they were getting really cold, the poor guys... Then we waited until 8:00 AM, the wind was a bit late compared to the forecast, we were supposed to leave around 5:00 and we actually started around 8:00 AM Universal Time.

A lot of things went through our mind, we looked at each other and we wished ourselves a good trip. It is never "just a detail" to leave for an around the world trip; even less so on a Jules Vernes Trophy start line.
Start line that has been crossed by many great sailors, including my big brother, more than 20 years ago; the first one of a great list.

And then, right into it! Big waves, more than 30 knots boat speed, and we may even get some sunshine before the end of the day! But we are not sure about that...

Our luck is that a big low system centered itself over Gibraltar, and it is going to push us on the correct side of Madeira and Canary Islands, i.e. West of the islands; this is going to put us in the right spot to catch the Trade Winds. We should have a good angle with the Trade Winds to go towards the Equator.
The South Atlantic, from what Marcel Van Triest, our onshore navigator in the Baleares Island, and Juan Vila, our onboard navigator, can tell, should look pretty conventional. The St Helen high is really big right now, we will have to sail around it without an opportunity to shorten the route (Loic says "couper le fromage", in French sailor slang: "cut the cheese"!!!) but that's OK. It is better to have a conventional weather system with a more "fluid" situation (he means that there should not be sudden wind changes, etc) because we know that we are not lacking horsepower on this boat; we have the necessary power and the necessary boat speed."

The journalist: "how would you define your crew, the "osmose" (team bonding, you would say in English, I think...)that is forming within the crew and the skills of each crew member?"

"The "osmose" is already done, the crew has been together for a long time, for some of them, from the very beginning of the project. For instance, Jean-Baptiste Levaillant, sitting right beside me, made the sails and the sail plan; Kevin Escoffier (yes, he is the son of Franck-Yves Escoffier, the skipper of the Multi 50 "Crepes Whaou") is the on board engineer; (and so on...)
This "baby", with this crew has already broken all the great offshore sailing records, we are missing just one; the Jules Vernes Trophy. And we have just started a few hours ago, to tackle this one too! It is going to be a long road, but there is good spirit on board, even if it started without a "warm up round"! It was a bit stressful, because the boat was doing big wave jumps, we were a bit worried for the boat, but it calmed down a bit now, luckily. The best way to win the trophy, it's to finish the trip! And the best way to end everything quickly, unfortunately, it is to break something... so we have been very cautious, we took a second reef, to "cool off the game a bit". But even when we cool off the game a bit, we are still sailing at 35-36 knots, which is fascinating..."

In the video at some point, they are talking about the best choice for the head sail, and they refer to a sail, which I believe is the small genaker as "le petit string".

In French, a "petit string", it's this:

http://b9.img.v4.sky...s/434181483.jpg


Cheers,

Laurent

[Doug Lord]

Here is a pretty good thread on SA-none of the usual crap(so far)-very informative. http://forums.sailinganarchy.com/ind...c=128820&st=50

[trimaraner]

Doug, english version on BP website in press, english version.

[Doug Lord]

Encounter with "condomaran"-pretty damn cool:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ItRgH...layer_embedded

[Dryfeet]

Originally Posted by Doug Lord

Encounter with "condomaran"-pretty damn cool:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ItRgH...layer_embedded

Must have been quite a thrill for those condomaran sailors! The incredible speed of these big boys must be an awesome experience. i'd love to get a ride..... for a couple hours. When the waves are going in the wrong direction, the ride no longer looks so enviable.

[outside the box]

Originally Posted by Doug Lord

Yeah, I've had "google translate" for three years and all of a sudden it doesn't work with IE. Very frustrating-missing some good stuff... The tracker is pretty clear, though: BP V is "racing" against Groupamas record.

Download dictionary boss Doug little tool bar installs I use it all the time with International clients emails etc..

[Doug Lord]

Originally Posted by outside the box

Download dictionary boss Doug little tool bar installs I use it all the time with International clients emails etc..

=========
Thanks, downloaded it but can't get it to work .....

[gypsy28]

Originally Posted by Doug Lord

Encounter with "condomaran"-pretty damn cool:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ItRgH...layer_embedded

GAWD thats a fast tri poor old lagoon looks like its anchored, I guess this answers the age old question of which is faster tri or cat, pretty fair comparison id say

[Doug Lord]

From an audio translation by Laurent on SA: http://forums.sailinganarchy.com/ind...&#entry3487378



"The highest speed of the boat? Yvan Ravussin was at the helm, it was during the Atlantic crossing record. We saw 47.5 knots... (47.5 knots!!!).

Is it the top speed of the boat? No. Maybe we will see more in the Southern Ocean, with big waves..."

Thats 54.6 mph!

[DGreenwood]

Originally Posted by gypsy28

GAWD thats a fast tri poor old lagoon looks like its anchored, I guess this answers the age old question of which is faster tri or cat, pretty fair comparison id say

You are joking of course!?