Orange II - almost 2000 miles in three days

by Orange Media on 8 Feb 2005 Orange II has been averaging close to 28 knots over the past three days as Bruno Peyron and his crew entered the roaring 40s, and since then, have been packing up miles.

684 miles were covered yesterday (GMT) at 28,5 knots of average speed. Orange II got really close to (her own) 24-hours world speed record!

This impressive progression should get them to the Cape of Good Hope by tomorrow, with a bit less than a four-day lead over Geronimo’s and Cheyenne’s 2004 passages.

As far as the Ushant – Good Hope record itself is concerned, it should be smashed by Orange: two days better than the previous mark, which means a mere two weeks to sail from Brittany to the southern tip of Africa.

Commenting via radio, Bruno Peyron said, 'conditions are good, the boat’s sailing well, we handle speed and wind properly. We gybed yesterday night, and we’re still sailing fast because our angle is good.

‘Tension is constant aboard, but everything’s fine. We should keep that pace today, towards the Cape of Good Hope, which we should round tomorrow. I don’t know what our lead over our virtual rivals is, but it should be good, after this crazy week end.’

Radio sessions: Every Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 1.15 p.m. GMT at Orange race headquarters and live on Internet. Wednesday’s broadcast will be a live video link on Internet and on Orange mobile handsets.

Audio: Apart from the radio session three times a week, an audio recording is made every morning at 5 a.m. with the boat.

These recordings can be heard and downloaded in MP3 format in the press section of the website: www.maxicatamaran-orange.com

Boat’s positions:

The position of the boat is updated every quarter of an hour on the website.

Records Orange II has to beat:

– The Jules Verne Trophy, held since 29th April 2004, by Olivier de Kersauson and the crew of the trimaran Geronimo, in 63d, 13h 59mn.

– The absolute round the world record held since 5th April 2004, by the American Steve Fossett, in 58d, 09h, 32mn.

Orange II’s most recent records

- The world 24 h record (706.2 miles covered at an average speed of 29.42 knots),

- The Mediterranean Record (17h 56mn and 13s, at an average of 25.53 knots).