Making the World a Smaller Place

Franck Cammas’ 105-ft trimaran Groupama 3 is already slightly ahead of Orange II‘s 2005 record pace, when skipper Bruno Peyron and his crew of 13 rounded the world in 50 days, 16 hours. Only 24 hours after departing the English Channel, Cammas and his crew of 10 were already south of Lisbon, Portugal, having covered 616 miles. The road ahead looks to hold some light patches, but in addition to being capable of sustained speeds of 40 knots, Groupama 3 is reportedly more suited to traversing these speed bumps than Peyron’s 125-ft catamaran. Cammas’ team say they believe they’re capable of a 45-day trip, and they’d likely know, given that they’ve already set the outright 24-hour speed record with their craft — 794 miles, set last July on the same trip they whittled four-and-a-half hours off Orange II‘s New York-Lizard transatlantic record.