Orange due to cross Equator

by Orange media on 6 Mar 2005 Bruno Peyron’s maxi catamaran has been sailing around the world now for forty days and is expected to cross the Equator on Sunday morning between 03.00 and 06.00 GMT.

Orange II will be crossing the Equator for the second time since starting out from Ushant on 24th January, after less than 41 days at sea.
She should be improving on the time set by Steve Fossett’s crew over the same stretch in 2004.

The American skipper took 50 days and 3 hours to reach the North Atlantic before setting the outright round the world record in 58 days 9 hours and 32 minutes.

There are now likely to be two new records set by Orange II on Sunday morning, as she re-crosses the Equator. She will be improving on the time taken by Steve Fossett since the start and is likely to set a new record time between Cape Horn and the Equator.

For this leg, the best performance to date was also that of Cheyenne during her round the world voyage in 2004, with a time of 10 days 6 hours and 47 minutes.

By crossing the separation line between the North and South Atlantic on Sunday morning, the French maxi catamaran should finish this stretch in a few hours over 8 days.

These fabulous achievements do not, however, hide the reality of the weather lying ahead for Peyron and his thirteen crew members in the final stretch of the North Atlantic.

The route does not look as simple as the one taken by Cheyenne in 2004. That record does not look like being beaten. However, the most important thing for the skipper now is to try to do his best for the final 3000 miles of the voyage.

‘We took in a reef and we’re sailing abeam the wind at 25 knots,’ Peyron explained. Orange II has picked up speed again after being becalmed on the 39th day off Brazil.

Before passing between the South American coast and the island of Fernando de Noronha, the catamaran is heading north perpendicular to The Equator. They are still taking advantage of some decent conditions, as afterwards things are likely to deteriorate.

‘Things are looking tricky after the Equator,’ Peyron confirmed. ‘Straight on, there’s no way through. The problem is that there is a high above the Equator.

Each time I have taken a look at the weather charts for the North Atlantic over the past three days, I have preferred to close them up quickly, trying to convince myself that anything could happen between now and then, telling myself there’s no reason to get worked up about it for no reason. However, with each new forecast, things look worse!

’To be clear about it, I feel that we’re in for a real punishment during this last leg of the voyage. Maybe it’s time for us to pay for the almost too perfect route we have been on since the start, with some real dream sequences, enabling us to cover huge distances at 30 knots to obtain a lead of ten days three quarters of the way through the voyage. So be it.

‘If that is the case, we will try to make the best of a bad job, just as we did our utmost with the perfect situation. We are going to have to find the right angle upwind to reach the waypoint we have set ourselves to get through the high.

After that, we should be able to hop on to the series of lows, which will take us to the finishing line.’

Data

Day 40

Latitude : 7 10.48' S

Longitude : 33 19.44' W

Speed over 24 h : 18.8 knots

Distance over 24 h : 452 nm

Speed since the start : 23.2 knots

Total distance : 22282 nm

Remaining distance : 3796.20 nm

Lead on day 40 :

- J.Verne record : +3768 nm (ahead)

– Absolute Record : +3219 nm (ahead)

Website: http://www.maxicatamaran-orange.com