His longest non-stop race took more than 48 days, but now Franck Cammas will cross the line in about 22 minutes. <\/p>\n
The 44-year-old French skippers route to the Americas Cup is unconventional, but having lapped the planet several times, including once in a giant trimaran, his experience is second to none. <\/p>\n
Cammas is from the French school of offshore adventurers, and with a string of big wins and record-breaking ocean passages, he has become one of its most accomplished pupils. <\/p>\n
One of his biggest feats was to set a record for sailing around the world, winning the Jules Verne Trophy on the 103ft trimaran Groupama 3 in 48 days 7 hours 44 minutes in 2010, shaving more than two days off the previous mark. <\/p>\n
His other globe-spanning victory was as winning skipper of the 2011-12 Volvo Ocean Race in the monohull Volvo Open 70 Groupama. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Cammas, from Aix-en-Provence in the south of France, scored his first major victory in the Solitaire du Figaro single-handed race around the French coast in 1997 at the age of 24. <\/p>\n
The following year he came third in the prestigious Route du Rhum solo transatlantic race from Brittany to Guadeloupe in a new 60ft trimaran called Groupama. <\/p>\n
In 2001, Cammas clinched another transatlantic classic, the two-handed Transat Jacques Vabres, from Le Havre in France to Salvador de Bahia in Brazil. He added further wins in 2003, and then in 2007 on Groupama 2. <\/p>\n
Now he wanted the big one. The Jules Verne Trophy. But records dont come easy. <\/p>\n
Cammas first bid in 2008 ended in disaster when Groupama 3 capsized off New Zealand. A second attempt was scuppered by damage off South Africa the following year. Undeterred, it was third time lucky, though the record now stands at just over 40 days. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Turning to unfinished business, Cammas had Groupama 3 reconfigured for solo sailing and won the Route du Rhum later in 2010 in nine days, 14 hours. <\/p>\n
Following his Volvo triumph, Cammas focused more on domestic events. He won the Tour de France a la Voile, and twice won the International C Class catamaran championship. <\/p>\n
The Americas Cups evolution towards multihulls had also grabbed his attention. <\/p>\n
Cammas had been involved before, as a coach for BMW Oracle Racing when they raced in a 90ft trimaran in 2010. And he coached Italys Luna Rossa for the 2013 Cup in San Francisco. <\/p>\n
So in 2013, Cammas helped launch Groupama Team France to target the 35th Americas Cup. <\/p>\n
However, his dream at least as a sailor was almost ended in 2015 when his foot was nearly sliced off by the rudder after he fell from his foiling GC32 catamaran off Brittany. <\/p>\n
It kept him out of the water for five months, and cost him a shot at the French Olympic team in the Nacra 17 catamaran for Rio 2016. <\/p>\n
But Cammas, a maths scholar, spent the time with Groupama Team Frances designers and engineers to arm himself with yet more technical knowledge of foiling cats. <\/p>\n
The classically trained pianist is well placed to get a perfect tune out of his ACC boat in Bermuda. <\/p>\n
- Photos above courtesy of Ricardo Pinto <\/p>\n<\/p>\n
#AmericasCup <\/p>\n
Category: All, Sports <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
See the rest here:<\/p>\n
Franck Cammas Sails From Offshore To Inshore - Bernews<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" His longest non-stop race took more than 48 days, but now Franck Cammas will cross the line in about 22 minutes. The 44-year-old French skippers route to the Americas Cup is unconventional, but having lapped the planet several times, including once in a giant trimaran, his experience is second to none. Cammas is from the French school of offshore adventurers, and with a string of big wins and record-breaking ocean passages, he has become one of its most accomplished pupils. Continue reading