Groupama 3 Capsizes

A reported failure in her port ama has turned both Groupama 3 and her Jules Verne record attempt upside down some 80 miles off the coast of southeastern New Zealand. Skipper Franck Cammas and the rest of 105-ft trimaran’s 10-man crew were successfully airlifted yesterday from the capsized trimaran to the city of Dunedin, where they were all given medical evaluations. According to reports, all were wearing survival gear and made it through unharmed.

"We have just capsized," Cammas said while Groupama 3 awaited rescuers. "The leeward float broke in two, leading to the breakage of the two beams and then the subsequent capsize."

The boat’s track shows an abrupt northerly course change near the longitude of Stewart Island off the southernmost tip of New Zealand. Groupama 3 — who was some 24 hours ahead of record-holder Orange II‘s pace at the time of the capsize — then appeared to get very near Dunedin before changing course back to the east. Was Cammas hedging his bets toward a more expedient rescue? We don’t know. Onboard reports from the previous day explained the course change as necessary to minimize the trimaran’s exposure to the 20- to 25-ft seas and winds of 40+ knots they were experiencing south of New Zealand.

At this point, the details are sketchy, and we’ll have to take the team’s account with a grain of salt. After all, for five days the crew kept delamination in one the port crossbeams under their foulie-hoods — this even before they got into the meat of the Southern Ocean. The shore team is saying the two issues were unrelated and the immediate goal is to salvage the main hull and starboard ama quickly, as a portion of the broken ama is grinding away underneath the main hull and will quickly damage the remaining structure.

Look for our full report in the March issue of Latitude 38, due out February 29.