Whilst the Cape of Good Hope is shaping up on the horizon, the atmosphere onboard Groupama 3 was less serene this Tuesday after studying the weather reports. Forced to remain on a fairly Northerly course, Franck Cammas and his nine crew are now heading for a zone of high pressure.

23 hours separate Orange II and Groupama 3 in the space of three years. Bruno Peyron’s maxi-catamaran virtually passed along the same trajectory as the trimaran this Tuesday at 0800 GMT with a deficit of 590 miles. This is good news since Franck Cammas has thus saved two and a half hours on the reference time since their passage of the equator, despite a succession of gybes slowing their pace.

Though the averages have grazed and even exceeded an average of 27 knots over the past two days, the trimaran has extended its course by performing successive hooks to the South West to get clear of the pitfalls of the Saint Helena High.

The situation has become complicated, however, by entering the Indian Ocean on Wednesday afternoon. A zone of high pressure has just slipped under the African continent and will catch the multihull, providing light Southerly and then Northerly winds swept by swells.

It remains to be seen if this zone of high pressure will stay in place under the Cape of Good Hope, or if it will get pushed by a new depression – which is expected on Thursday evening – to the South of Cape Town.