The Orange sailing team ready for 2006 season

by Orange Sailing Team on 26 Apr 2006 After a winter spent with work being done on her, the giant Orange II is getting ready to move on to the next stage of her records campaign. Bruno Peyron will be setting out from New York on an attempt at the North Atlantic crewed record. Meanwhile, a new Orange project trimaran skippered by Stève Ravussin will be lining up for the start of the 2006 Route du Rhum.

The North Atlantic crewed record for Orange II.

Bruno Peyron and his men promised themselves that they would return to New York to line up once again for the start of the mythical North Atlantic record. We should add that they just missed out on it in August 2004 by some 31 minutes… The promise is about to be fulfilled, as the giant Orange II will soon be heading across to the States to make for New York and the start of the Atlantic record. Bruno and his crew have given themselves the target of being on stand-by in New York from 15th May. Before then, if weather conditions allow, Orange II might have a go at her own 24-hour world crew record (706.2 miles), and maybe the single-handed record too.

The 2006 Route du Rhum for the Orange project trimaran.

The fine start that Stève Ravussin got off to during the last edition of the Transat Jacques Vabre, before his boat suffered some damage, while he was at the front of the fleet, ended in a major disappointment for everyone. However, this roaring start showed Stève’s talent in full. He will therefore be returning to Saint-Malo at the end of October for the start of the Route du Rhum with his new Orange project trimaran (the former Banque Populaire III).


Bruno Peyron talks about his forthcoming attempt at the North Atlantic record.

Bruno Peyron, the skipper of the giant Orange II, will be setting out from off New York to tackle the North Atlantic record in early May. A chance to gain his revenge after the 2004 attempt, which failed by just 31 minutes. With just a few days to go before he takes the boat to New York, the skipper of Orange II talks here about his next attempt.

Question: Orange II is continuing her campaign with priority given to another attempt at the North Atlantic record.

Bruno Peyron : Indeed, that is our priority for the 2006 season. The North Atlantic record is the most prestigious after the round the world voyage and also the fastest and so the most difficult to beat, taking into account the very high average speed that is needed (25.78 knots average speed for the crossing). We managed to obtain the second best performance ever back in 2004, and so now we need to be the best by beating the incredible time set by Steve Fossett in October 2001 (4 days, 17 h, 28 mins 06 secs).

Q : How will you be getting ready for this new attempt at the Atlantic?

BP: The preparation is simple enough: we take the boat to New York, get her ready technically in Newport, carry out some training on the spot, study the weather, get the right team together and then go on the attack!

Q : What line-up have you chosen for the crew taking part with you in this record ?

BP: The crew is currently being chosen and will be announced once we are on stand-by in New York.

Q : Your previous attempt only missed out on the record by a few minutes. What do you think about that when you look back today?

BP : To be honest, I think we made two mistakes: the first was setting sail a little too early. The boat managed speeds above what we were expecting, and so we overtook the weather system and were forced to gybe 90° to the route for 7 hours to get ourselves back on track. The second mistake was not gybing again soon enough after getting back on track. I’ve only got myself to blame. As far as everything else was concerned, we sailed well and would have beaten the record all the same, if the wind hadn’t come around over the last few hours, which forced us to carry out one more fatal gybe just before The Lizard. However, that’s what it’s all about. You just have to learn to live with your mistakes.

Q : The other news from the Orange sailing team concerns Stève Ravussin’s participation in the Route du Rhum !

BP : Yes, that’s great news. The contract with Stève was due to run until the Route du Rhum and I’m pleased to say a solution was found to enable Team Orange to be present for the Route du Rhum, which is a major event. I think Stève will be fully determined to confirm the magnificent performance that he achieved at the start of the Transat Jacques Vabre.