While the funeral pyres are already ablaze for the ORMA 60 class, as many offshore pro skippers matriculate to the IMOCA 60 class, Franck Cammas and Steve Ravussin performed what could prove to be the swan song for the ORMA 60 class by obliterating the course record in the Transat Jacques Vabre race, which runs from La Harve, France to Salvador de Bahia, Brazil, by a staggering 1 day, 22 hours, 31 minuets, and 58 seconds. Cammas and Ravussin sailed Groupama II at a blistering average pace of 18.03 knots, for a total elapsed time of 10 days, 38 minuets, and 43 seconds for the course’s 4340 nautical miles. To put Cammas accomplishment in perspective, Gitana 11, another ORMA 60 trimaran, finished second, still a lagging 9+ hours behind Groupama II. This year marks Cammas’ third victory in the Transat Jacques Vabre, not bad considering that he has only raced in a grand total of five of these events.

Speed pundits will remember that this past summer, Cammas and his nine-man crew set a new Transatlantic record, from Ambrose Lighthouse to the Lizard, besting the former west-to-east transatlantic record by 4 hours and 26 minuets on their even bigger Groupama III, a 105-foot VPLP-designed maxi trimaran. Talk about a quick year for Cammas!

For more information on Cammas’ Transat Jacques Vabre success, check out www.jacques-vabre.com/en