Yvan Zedda/Groupam
We were looking for new projects for the team. The only choice was the Volvo Ocean Race for us because it’s a big event for the sport and it was also the only choice for Groupama ...
Friday 06 November 2009 10:30 GMT
Franck Cammas has spoken of his pride at being the man tasked with renewing French links with the Whitbread/Volvo as skipper of the Groupama entry.
Cammas and Groupama announced this week that they would be taking their 12-year offshore racing partnership into the next two Volvo Ocean Races starting with the 2011-12 edition.
It will be the first French entry since Eric Tabarly's La Poste competed in the 1993-94 Whitbread race.
In an interview on this week's Gybe Talkin', the Volvo sailing podcast, Cammas said he first became aware of the Whitbread/Volvo through the exploits of fellow-Frenchman Tabarly.
Tabarly sailed a succession of boats named Pen Duick over three decades of offshore racing. He competed in the Whitbread three times, in 1981-82, 1985-86 and 1993-94 when he finished third on La Poste.
Cammas said: "I followed the first Whitbread race with Pen Duick. I had a book which I read when I was very young about the Whitbread race. It was the first time I knew about the race.
"A French team in the race is a good thing because it has been a long time with no French team. The French people love offshore races like the Vendee Globe so it's good that France is competing in the Volvo Ocean Race. It's the best race we can imagine for offshore racing and it's wonderful for our team."
Cammas added that the Volvo came top of the list when he and Groupama were weighing up their offshore options.
"We were looking for new projects for the team and the company and the only choice was the Volvo Ocean Race for us because it's a big event for the sport and it was also the only choice for Groupama because it's the only international offshore race because they are becoming a more international company."
As for the crew make-up, Cammas said they would be looking to put together an experienced offshore group. He added that Frenchman Laurent Pages and Ireland's Damian Foxall fitted the profile of sailor they were seeking.
Cammas was speaking ahead of his departure from Brest today on the 32-metre maxi trimaran Groupama 3 in an attempt to capture the Jules Verne Trophy for the fastest yacht to circumnavigate the globe.
Cammas, navigator Stan Honey, who won the Volvo in 2005-06 aboard ABN AMRO ONE and Sylvain Mondon, of Meteo France, are seeking a suitable weather window to get them quickly to the Equator. Cammas said: "The wind and the sea will be strong off Brest with 30 knot of wind and five metre waves." That will get them quickly across the Bay of Biscay and around Finisterre and later into a favourable transition into the Trades.
For Cammas and the crew of Groupama 3, the time to beat is 50 days and 16 hours. That record has been held by Bruno Peyron's Orange 2 since 2005.