Hydroptere takes 1NM speed record at over 50knots

Alain Thébault, Thierry Lombard and their team have taken the revolutionary 60ft Hydrofoil trimaran Hydroptere to yet another new world speed record averaging 50.17 knots (92.91 km/h) over a distance of 1NM (subject to ratification by the World Speed Sailing Record Council).

The 11-man crew set the new record on Sunday, November 8th, in a 28-knot northwesterly wind off Hyeres, Provence.

Thebault commented that he and his team would now concentrate on ocean sailing, having broken both the 500m (averaging 51.36knots) and 1NM speed records. The peak speed on 8 November was a near-Force 11 gale speed of 55 knots (102.78km/h).

"Thanks to this historic double record, l'Hydroptère is confirmed as the fastest sailcraft on the planet. This exceptional performance is a tribute to the work of a determined and experienced team, which developed and implemented revolutionary and innovative solutions."
said Philippe Merk, CEO of Audemars Piguet, the project's new sponsors.

Audemars Piguet and Lombard Odier are also sponsoring l'Hydroptère.ch, which will take to the waters of Lake Geneva, Switzerland, in summer 2010. It will serve as a laboratory and a think tank for the ambitious Hydroptère Maxi project, the ultimate goal of which is to sail round the world in 40 days, thus pursuing the dream of Jules Verne.

"This great human and technological adventure is backed today by two
prestigious firms that solidify our roots. The arrival of Audemars Piguet alongside private bankers Lombard Odier moves me deeply. This strong support is a great motivational force for me and the team. In an ongoing humble family spirit, our ambition is now to unfurl our wings on the open seas, collectively and around the world," concludes Alain Thébault.

Jules Verne Trophy: Groupama maintains lead

Groupama 3 is off Salvador de Bahia and is continuing its southward descent in search of a stormy depression system forming over Brazil. At an average speed of over 25 knots, Franck Cammas and his crew have a 680 mile lead over the reference time.

The skipper was able to explain the situation through which they have been navigating since crossing the equator in five days fifteen hours:

"It's fine weather with a few cumulus reminiscent of the good conditions, with slightly shifty tradewinds on the beam. We're having to manoeuvre fairly frequently, switching between the staysail and solent as the wind varies from 14 to 22 knots... We're being forced to sail right around the outside of the Saint Helena High: we're going to sail along the Brazilian coast for two days to gain southing in order to hook onto a depression, which is currently forming over the South American continent. This will then quickly push us eastwards...However, it's important we don't miss the ride as there aren't any more after that! The encounter is scheduled for lunchtime on Saturday: after that we're going to power away...For the time being, the weather sequence is pretty favourable with an anticyclone ahead of us, which the depression will push along. We're going to have flat seas with downwind conditions!"

The giant trimaran is following a course which is parallel to the coast, even putting a little SW'ly into their route in order to drop down to 22° South as quickly as possible, due to the fact that the current priority is not to sail as close to the direct course as possible, but rather to position themselves ahead of the cold front originating in Brazil.

The routes of Goupama and record holder Orange 2 (with four years separation) have been fairly similar since the Doldrums. Added to this the speeds are identical, which has served to maintain the stability of Groupama 3's lead (680 miles) over the past two days. In view of the forecast weather conditions, Franck Cammas and his nine crew will bend their course in towards the Cape of Good Hope at approximately the same latitude as Bruno Peyron in 2005 (22° South). This big curve towards the Indian Ocean will above all determine at what latitude the long surfs around the Antarctic will begin. From that point there are over 9,000 miles to cover in the Roaring Forties.

Kiwis Remain on Top…

Rarely in Cup racing is the first race of the day as early as 9am, but here in Nice with the cold night air rushing back from the mountains to the north towards the relatively warm sea at dawn, conditions between 9am and 11am are often the best of the day, if a little shifty.

Team Origin and Artemis were the first teams to take advantage of the morning breeze in a match that saw the British drop their first race of Round Robin 1. The Swedish Artemis team, (not to be confused with the globe trotting Open 60 campaign), is owned by TP52 and RC44 sailor Torbjorn Tornqvist who has enlisted Terry Hutchinson, Morgan Larson and Paul Cayard among a long list of rock star sailors.

In the pre-start both boats found themselves bunched up pretty close to the start line and had to back pedal in the last few minutes. The Swedes made a better job of judging the time to the line and the distance required to get the heavy Cup boat up to speed and took an early advantage. It was all that was required in a race that only went one way, to Artemis.

Meanwhile Emirates Team New Zealand continued its winning streak and beat BMW Oracle Racing with Gavin Brady at the helm in a race that started off close before developing into a procession.

To see Cup boats racing, the impressive race village and the number of spectators who queue every morning for the free spectator boat you could be forgiven for a feeling of déjà vu. Yet perhaps one of the most impressive features of an event that looks and feels just like the real thing is the online coverage that has taken a big step forwards.

Free live video, commentary and virtual eye animations
are broadcast via the event's web site. With no broadcast rights issues to satisfy, the service is available worldwide and allows you to have a window open into which the coverage will start as and when the racing gets under way.

You can also watch edited highlights of each match here on our home page thanks to the feed from Sail.tv Simply click on the match you're interested in.

All you need in addition is an emergency screen in the background for when the boss turns up.

LIVE Louis Vuitton Trophy TV/Virtual Race Coverage

Louis Vuitton Trophy: TeamOrigin still unbeaten

A delay of almost two hours preceded the British team's first scheduled match for Wednesday at the Louis Vuitton Trophy regatta in Nice. The first of these matches was against BMW Oracle Racing, the Challenger for the 33rd America's Cup. Skippered by Gavin Brady today the American team had a two win and one loss record before this race.

TeamOrigin had drawn the port tack entry to the start, which in these light conditions is normally a fairly disadvantageous end to manage best. The pre-start saw a two minute dial -up before some interesting manoeuvres deep in the start box. Coming close to the start Ben Ainslie managed to keep the pressure on the American team forcing them to take the right hand side. Brady started at speed on port tack near the committee boat, TeamOrigin happy to have won the left had lost some time in the process during the last tack onto starboard just before the gun.

'It is quite often a difficult decision to make whether you want to lose a lot to get the side you want or whether you accept a close start on the un-favoured side. Today was like that. We had to make sure we didn't lose too much in winning the left, we were a bit late and slow off the line but it turned out to be the right decision,' commented TeamOrigin skipper, Ben Ainslie.

It became clear within a couple of minutes that the wind was significantly better on the left. Rob Greenhalgh the TeamOrigin strategist, the wind eyes of the team who spends his time near the top of the mast, made the following analysis of the key moment of the race from his point of view:

'The wind was really unstable during the half hour or so period before the start and we weren't really sure which side was going to be favoured. We decided quite close to the pre-start that the left looked marginally better and as the pre-start developed we felt stronger about it. Ben managed to get the left for us and sure enough it was better but we certainly didn't expect it to be quite so powerful. The rest of the race saw us always in better wind.'

TeamOrigin crossed the finish with a lead of two minutes and one second to maintain with Emirates Team New Zealand an unbeaten record to date. The last flight of the day was abandoned due to lack of stable wind and will be sailed tomorrow, Thursday, along with the final two flights of Round Robin One and the two partially sailed flights from earlier in the week.

Louis Vuitton Trophy Nice Cote d'Azur, Round Robin One - Current Standings:

Competing teams - Country - Skipper - Record (W-L)
Emirates Team New Zealand (NZL) - Dean Barker, 5-0
TeamOrigin (GBR) - Ben Ainslie, 4-0
Azzurra (ITA) - Francesco Bruni, 4-1
BMW Oracle Racing (USA) - Gavin Brady, 2-2
Artemis (SWE) - Paul Cayard, 2-3
All4One (FRA/GER) - Jochen Schuemann, 2-4
Synergy Russian Sailing Team (RUS) - Karol Jablonski, 1-4
Team French Spirit (FRA) - Bertrand Pacé, 0-6

Schedule for Thursday 12 November:

Flight 12
Match 1 BMW Oracle Racing (75) vs Emirates Team New Zealand (93)
Match 2 TeamOrigin (99) vs Artemis (90)

Flight 13
Match 1 TFS - Pages Jaunes (75) vs Synergy (93)
Match 2 All4One (99) vs Azzurra (90)

Flight 14
Match 1 BMW Oracle Racing (75) vs Artemis (93)
Match 2 TeamOrigin (99) vs Emirates Team New Zealand (90)