Orange II on track

French maxi-catamaran touches 41.2 knots in Marseille to Carthage, Transmed record attempt

At 17:15 French time (15 :15 GMT), Orange II was positioned by the south of Sardinia, and was getting ready to gybe before coming back on the direct route.

The first half of the day has been quite hard for everyone aboard, but now the conditions seem to grow calmer. Nevertheless, the wind force should be sufficient to keep on speeding! This morning, the speedometer displayed 41.2 knots...

The record seems to be possible for Orange II, and the crew now only needs to average 19 knots of speed to beat the performance of record holder Steve Fossett and his maxi catamaran, PlayStation.

"We sent the gennaker up again about half an hour ago, since the wind decreased a bit, and it should drop to 25 knots in the next two hours", explained Bruno during the 17:00 radio chat session. "It's notably less violent than it was this morning, especially when we were under gennaker - a situation that puts a lot of pressure on the shoulders of the helmsman! I personally saw the speedometer hit 41.2 knots and we maintained the speed between 35 and 39 knots for at least 20 straight minutes".

For the crew this implies permanent tension, having to cope with sudden gusts likely to cause sudden and brutal reactions. "At one point, there was a gust and we were under reefed main and staysail and we let go of the mainsheet in a desperate manoeuvre - it was a little chaotic, I have to say. But now, things are getting better: fortunately, we'll keep enough wind to sail fast until the end."

Peyron seems optimistic concerning the outcome of this record attempt. "We can't miss out for 30 minutes twice in a month", he laughs, referring to their Atlantic record attempt this summer, when Orange II missed the record (another held by Steve Fossett) by only 31 minutes. The maxi-cat should gybe at 19:00 (17:00 GMT), before hitting the direct route and speeding towards the line.