Volvo Ocean Race

Although clearly still disappointed not to be celebrating back to back leg victories after Groupama’s mast crumpled to the deck while the French team were leading Leg 5, skipper Franck Cammas said today their third place at least kept them in the hunt.

IAN ROMAN/Volvo Ocean Race IAN ROMAN/Volvo Ocean Race IAN ROMAN/Volvo Ocean Race

Click to play Heroic Groupama take third…

• Franck Cammas - Groupama sailing team

“It’s not that bad,” Cammas said. “Our ambition was not this one a week ago, but with a jury rig we could not hope for better than third. This result leaves us very close to the overall leader.

“It is true that it is a big disappointment, but I think we can be really proud of what we have accomplished. This type of thing makes you stronger if you can get through it.”

Cammas shrugged off talk of heroism and said finishing the leg was part of the crew’s job as professional sailors.

“I think we just have done our job, which was to finish the best we could in the situation we were in,” he said. “We made a good choice after the dismasting and it went well for us afterwards.

“We are not heroes, I hope we are just good sailors.”

Cammas confessed that morale on board had plummeted in the immediate aftermath of the mast break but he applauded his crew for their professionalism.

“No it was not great, but they are really good professionals,” Cammas said. “So we know what is the right way to handle this kind of situation. As a skipper I believe the best method of rallying the troops is to give clear and positive objectives."

Cammas said he was confident that Groupama would be back to their competitive best in time for the resumption of racing in just over a week and a half.

“We are going to put on the spare mast. It’s a good mast, not a better one, but at least as good,” he said. “We have proved that our team is sailing well and we deserved a very good place in this leg.

“We are looking forward to the rest of the race."