Breathtakingly fast: "Orange II"
Skipper Bruno Peyron and his crew continue to set a breathtaking pace with the 120-foot catamaran "Orange II". Already tonight, after only 32 days, the team is likely to check off Cape Horn.
"Cape Horn is a mystical, special place, and we will sail past it as close as possible so that the sailors on board who have never been here can experience it consciously," said Bruno Peyron in an email to his Shore crew. However, the record drive will not degenerate into a casual sightseeing tour. Even if the Maxi-Kat has slowed down a little in the last 24 hours, an etmal of 560 nautical miles can still be seen. An average speed of almost 24 knots needs to be sailed first. And this is not just the average pace of the last day, but that of the entire journey so far!
Peyron has covered a good 18,000 nautical miles with his 13 crew members in the past 32 days and is currently ahead of the previous Jules Verne record holder Olivier de Kersauson (63 days; Kersauson is currently sailing within the Oryx Quest race) with his 110-foot tri "Geronimo" also around the world) of almost 3500 miles. This corresponds to a good eight days.
"Orange II"
Peyron still has Steve Fossett's absolute world circumnavigation record on "Cheyenne" (58 days; the 125-foot cat "Cheyenne" sails, skipped by Fossett's former "right hand" David Scully, who is also currently involved in the Oryx Quest) a lead of a good 2500 miles, i.e. almost a week.
"We worked hard for the lead with pain and exhaustion," said Peyron in his email, showing himself proud of the performance of the crew and that of the boat. If "Orange II" actually rounds Cape Horn this night, the crew still has 25 days for the ascent through the Atlantic to the finish line. It took the team 25 days - just for comparison - to start the record attempt from the starting line at Ile d'Ouessant to New Zealand! Another comparison: it took Ellen MacArthur 21 days to complete the same distance on her one-handed record.
The wind situation in the next three weeks would have to be extremely, really extremely bad if Peyron should miss his goal of breaking the record. Apart from, of course, a major break on board, which can always throw everything upside down with such a record attempt. If "Orange II" comes through the Atlantic without any material damage and with even an average weather situation, the Kat will pulverize the Fossett world record and the new best time will be a new dimension.