Orange II on the home stretch

by Orange II media on 14 Mar 2005 A series of gybes will enable Bruno Peyron and his crew on Orange II to head north to pick up the Atlantic lows that will be coming to an end in the next few hours.

At exactly 2.00am this morning GMT, Orange gybed once again, heading north. Strangely enough, they twice crossed the path taken by Geronimo on her way back up last year, when she won the Jules Verne Trophy.

This crossover enables us to see just how far ahead Bruno Peyron and his crew really are. Quite simply 12 days ahead of the record-holder. The most important thing is however that the long detour via the west around the ridges of high pressure, which ruined Orange II’s week last week, is finally drawing to an end.

Situated to the west south west of the Azores this lunchtime, the fastest ocean-racing multihull in the world is now on her home run, and shortly will have less than 1500 miles left to cover. Her ETA is still planned for next Tuesday.

From Bruno Peyron, this morning at 10.00;
‘everything is going well. We’re continuing to weave in and out in very unstable winds. Half an hour ago, we had 14 knots, before that we had 24 and now it’s climbing back up to 20 knots.

‘Strangely, the forecasters are at a loss about what’s happening here. So we have to do without the computers. We’re using the barometer more to navigate and keeping our eyes raised to observe the clouds.

‘For the moment, we haven’t really taken off, and I don’t know yet whether we’ll go to the north or south of the Island of Florès. There’s no point in going up too far, as there will be too much wind and heavy seas.

‘The vital thing is going to be to try to find the right angle and strength of wind. We will however be ahead of the depression, with near perfect seas. It’s still rather difficult to forecast precisely, so our ETA is still varying between noon on Tuesday 15th and noon on the 16th.

Data:

Day at sea : 48th

Date : 13/03/2005

Time (GMT) : 10h08

Latitude : 35 44.32' N

Longitude : 38 09.32' W

Instantaneous speed : 20.2 knots

Instantaneous bearing : 346

Average speed : 21.8 knots

Speed over 24h : 14.9 knots

Distance over 24h : 357 nm

Speed since the start : 21.9 knots

Total distance : 25278 nm

Remaining distance : 1639.40 nm

Lead on day 48:

- J. Verne record : +3503 nm (ahead)

– absolute record : +2803 nm (ahead)

The 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 latest records:

- The world 24 h record (706.2 miles covered at an average of 29.42 knots) - August 2004.

– The Mediterranean record (17h, 56 mins and 13s, at an average of 25.53 knots) - September 2004.

- The Record between Ushant and the Cape of Good Hope (14 days, 8h and 19 mins) - February 2005.

- The Record between the Equator and the Cape of Good Hope (7days, 5h, and 22mins) - February 2005.

- The Record between the Cape of Good Hope and Cape Leeuwin (7 days, 5 hours and 35 minutes) - February 2005.

- The Record between Ushant and Cape Leeuwin (21 days 13 hours and 54 minutes) - February 2005.

- The Record between the Equator and Cape Leeuwin (14 days and 11 hours) - February 2005.

- The Record between Cape Leeuwin and Cape Horn (10 days 23 hours 35 minutes) – February 2005

- The Record between Tasmania and Cape Horn (8 days 18 hours 06 minutes) – February 2005

- The Record between Cape Horn and the Equator (8 days 5 hours and 36 minutes) in March 2005

The Record Equator-Equator (33 days 16 hours and 9 minutes) – March 2005

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

All information go to: www.maxicatamaran-orange.com