Rio bound

Steve Fossett's Cheyenne back on the pace

Day 44
Position at 0510GMT: 35deg 02.390S 44deg 47.880W
Course/speed: 060deg/18.6 knots
TWS/TWD: 17.0 knots/205 course

After some slow progress over the weekend Steve Fossett's Cheyenne was fully back up to speed in the 24 hours up until 0510 this morning, regularly sailing at speeds over 20 knots and covering 526 miles. This puts her back up to 766 miles ahead of the equivalent position at the end of day 44 on Orange's 2002 record. The relative progress of the two boats will be hard to guage over the next few days as the tracks of the two boats diverges - at this point in her round the world record attempt Orange uniquely headed northeast across the South Atlantic and crossed the high pressure system.

The forecast over the next 24 hours shows that Cheyenne is likely to have another day of high mileage. There is a expanding high pressure system to their south and a shallow depression to their northeast (southeast of Rio de Janeiro). The 15-20 knot wind looks to remain consistly from the south today and will back slightly later on tonight. The low pressure area off Rio means it is likely that Cheyenne will head into towards the beach just to the north of Rio and will be in for a day of relatively light winds on Tuesday.