Peyron recounts...

Orange II's skipper waxes lyrical about the recent TransMed record attempt and looks ahead at their plans

After breaking the 24 hour record in August and the new trans-Mediterranean record set last week in a time of 17h 56m and 33s at an average of 25.53 knots reaching speeds of more than 41 knots, the Orange II maxi-catamaran has confirmed all her potential. Following some post-record celebrations in Marseilles Orange II continues her program over the winter months.

Orange II will be present this weekend on the sidelines during the Marseilles Provence Multihull Grand Prix with several well known sporting figures to be sailing on board this Sunday, such as Alain Prost, four time Formula 1 world champion, Laure Manaudou, recent swimming gold medallist in the Athens Olympics plus several players from the Olympique de Marseilles football club.

The superlatives simply pour out of Bruno Peyron's mouth, when he talks about his most recent record in the Med : "It was great from a personal and sporting point of view. It was violent, intense, pure speed with an exceptional boat and an exceptional crew. The wind and sea conditions were perfect, the light was splendid, and everything came together... The beauty during those moments at sea is partly linked to the performance of the men on board and partly to the machine. They are simple, Epicurean pleasures to savour at every moment, in spite of the tiredness. The way it is done is also important. You have to manage to push the boat even faster in difficult wind and sea conditions, to make it go forward more and more. We regained our confidence in this boat, which had given us a few worries before. It was the first time we had sailed with one of the new rudders, and that considerably improved keeping the boat on track, at high speed. The second rudder will be fitted here in Marseilles, so we can use it on our way back up the Atlantic next week".

The crossing was quick, but not without a few scares. Bruno Peyron: "In fact, we came smashing down three times fairly violently, but paradoxically, it was less dramatic than on the previous Orange, which could be slowed right down from 35 knots to 15 knots. With Orange II, we go now from 30 knots down to 20 knots. The braking is less violent, as the boat forces its way into the wave. The second scare was more intense: we swung right around in a 35 knot wind. We were forced to shake out the mainsail very quickly, which caused the sheets to come out of the pulleys. Then, we had to repair the damage climbing out the boom with 40-knot gusts, which is quite dangerous..."

On the topic of Orange II's crew Peyron continues: "...It should be pointed out that this record was achieved with a few from the technical staff, as some of the racing team were out on Grand Prix events. I'm very attached to this feature of our team, when we sail as often as possible with those, who would normally be back on dry land, and it certainly seems to pay off, as everyone did their job magnificently. For the Jules Verne, we will look particularly closely at the quality of the helmsmen. When you know that at high speeds the difference between a good and excellent helmsman can mean four or five knots extra speed, it makes quite a difference when you add up all the miles to the finish. I shall therefore be drawing up a team with at least six very talented helmsmen (two in each watch)".


Next week the maxi-cat will leave her homeport in Marseilles to head for her technical base in Lorient, where she will be prepared for a new attempt at setting the Jules Verne this winter..."Tthe aim is to be in dry dock over 15-20 October for a complete check up. We remain very realistic and cautious about the next stages of the programme, as our records were set on short distances. For the next bit, things are very different. The boat was built to smash all the different ocean records. Clearly, these last few weeks have shown that we have the right equipment to carry out this wager successfully. She seems to be fully reliable, but we must not get carried away, as even if we our confidence has been building, you must keep a clear head to avoid making any stupid mistakes. So we really have to keep an eye on that from now on, as the forthcoming overhaul is a complete one, and we will have to take everything apart, then put it back together again, which is a long meticulous piece of work to get the boat ready (rigging, paintwork, sails, chandlery,... ), then there will be a test sail to check everything is working and get the crew ready for the big trip around the world".