And then there was one

Cheyenne heads for the Doldrums. Brian Thompson reports from on board

Position at 05h10: 09deg 42.120N 26deg 45.730W Course/speed: 193deg 21.1knots TWS/TWA: 17knots 051deg

A lot can happen in a week - a dramatic uphill race to the startline, a tactical and sometimes tedious haul south and west to catch the tradewinds, sail repairs, then two days' strong running south in steady north east trades while being pursued by a relentless Geronimo.

One full week into their round the world record attempt (averaging over 15.6 kts so far), skipper Steve Fossett and Cheyenne continue their drive south into the weekend - once more alone on the course as the big French tri now returns to base at Brest to effect sail repairs and take a fresh start.

With Geronimo's restart at least 10 days away and record-holder Bruno Peyron's new Orange II still waiting in the wings to take up the battle, Fossett and navigator Adrienne Cahalan are carefully watching the forecast - and the series of dots on their electronic charts representing the course and locations of Peyron's original Orange on the 2002 Jules Verne Trophy course.

Having lost over 630 miles to Orange's 2002 track early in the attempt, over the past 2.5 days the Cheyenne team have put up their second consecutive 450+ nm day to reduce that deficit to less than 500 miles (494 nm measured on the water between the two boats' positions; 469 nm if measured as the difference on the great circle course to the next waypoint - Cape of Good Hope).


Brian Thompson reports from on board:

The big news here of course is that Geronimo has been forced to turn back after breaking two out of their three gennakers. They had a great start, having picked a better weather slot than us, and were turning in good average speeds in the tradewinds. It must be very dispiriting for them to head back, and expect to start again soon after arrival. That means they will be sailing 120% of the round the world course. The four of us who did The Race on board PlayStation in 2001 know how it must feel as we had to turn back from about 13S latitude with sail problems. We know a number of the crew on board the big silver trimaran and feel bad for them.

Although we have been thinking about Geronimo and aiming to stay ahead and extend our distance in the south, we have been sailing our own race up to now, and so things have not really changed for us. We are going to be able to send more reports and tactical information from the boat now, as previously that would have been useful to de Kersauson. Otherwise same as before, try to go the shortest route in the best breeze, keep the boat speed high without breaking any equipment.

We have now completed one week of sailing and our average speed has been 15.5 knots, we are 495 miles behind Orange but expect to catch up more today. Our forecast is for 15 knot tradewinds and 2 years ago Orange only clocked in 160 nautical miles as they were stuck in the Doldrums.

No sail repairs today to the blast reacher, we did two gybes and one change from the blast to our current sail, the big gennaker. We have had a full main up since the middle of the Bay of Biscay.

Wildlife tally a little low today, saw a lot of flying fish, another one managed to hit me in the back, but he was lucky, as Adrienne picked him up as he wriggled in the cockpit and put him back in the water. He was about 7 inches long, although you can get some big ones over a foot, like flying trout..

Saw two storm petrels, tiny black birds that flit around the waves like bats, almost always flying alone. The sky is much more hazy as the humidity builds, and so the brilliance of the stars is dimmed and we can only see the principal ones.

All’s well on board, the team have enjoyed their first week at sea, hoping for 7 more before we see Plymouth!

Brian

Below: Satellite wind chart