50 days 16 hours

Orange demolishes the non-stop round the world record. We speak to skipper Bruno Peyron about his voyage

Back in the spring of 1993 Bruno Peyron and the crew of the maxi-catamaran Commodore Explorer became the first to set a record for sailing fully crewed non-stop around the world in less than 80 days in what was then the first attempt on the Jules Verne Trophy. In 2002 Peyron and the crew of Orange 1 became the first in history to take the Jules Verne Trophy below 70 days, setting a time of 64 days 8 hour 37 minutes 24 seconds. Incredibly just three years later Peyron and the crew of Orange II have set a new Jules Verne Trophy record of 50 days 16 hours 20 minutes and 4 seconds at an average speed of 22.2 knots.

At 0223GMT this morning Orange II crossed the Jules Verne Trophy finish line between the Le Creac'h lighthouse on Ushant and the Lizard after one of the most stunning demonstrations of oceanic speed sailing ever witnessed.

Their time is 12 days 21 hours 39 minutes and 42 seconds faster than Geronimo's existing Jules Verne Trophy record and 7 days 17 hours 12 minutes and 41 seconds ahead of Cheyenne's outright round the world, the ambiguity between these two record now fortunately a thing of the past.

Bruno Peyron, just after crossing the finishing line commented on how he felt: "It’s more emotion than joy. It corresponds to the long hard slog. So there’s no explosion. It’s intense, violent, just like this round the world voyage. I really love this night, and we’re going to try to make the most of it. Everyone is out on deck, and I don’t think we’ll be sleeping much before we get back on dry land, even if we haven’t really made any plans. This is a genuine record, which is beyond dispute. The boat is certainly a classy creation and was handled by a superb crew."


The Orange crew this morning

The background

Two abortive attempts on the Jules Verne Trophy perhaps a little too soon after her launch just over a year ago threw up a couple of teething problems with Orange II. The main issue was the rudders which made the boat difficult to steer, although not so difficult that she was unable to set a new 24 hour record of 706 miles last summer during an attempt on the time for the west to east transatlantic passage.

"To be honest I was a little worried at the beginning of last season because we were a bit afraid of the machine," admits Peyron. "We were quite unable to control her and it was a bit frightening. So we were obliged to sail under powered and so the speed was not very good."

During an extensive refit last autumn new rudders were fitted to her that were balanced differently and were longer, bigger in area and thinner. Her engines were removed along with the prop shafts and fairings (one of which had broken and started to tear off causing her to turn back during one of her round the world attempts last year) and this was one of the contributing factors to the team losing 1.5 tonnes of the maxi-cat's displacement which designer Yann Penfornis at her creators Gilles Ollier & Associates states as being "more than 30 tonnes".

They also installed solar panels and this enabled them to carry just 350lt of diesel instead of 800. Generally Peyron says they went through everything on board looking for ways to save weight from the sails to the ropes down to the food. Much weight was saved by leaving behind a lot of spares that it was felt they wouldn't need following a season of sailing the boat. Prior to loading on board the boat all movable items were laid out in a sail loft and weighed prior to loading on board.

With the new rudders and the weight reduction the performance of the boat reached new heights. "With the new rudders, suddenly we felt a lot more comfortable and obviously we learned how to use her at 100% most of the time - as you probably noticed!" says Peyron.

The record

At 10:03:07 on 24 Jan 2005 Orange II set sail. Peyron takes up the story: "In the first part of the north Atlantic it was very classic. We started with an ideal weather pattern on the computers but just 20 hours after the start it just collapsed. It was just the contrary of what we had when we started. It was not a very good start and we just had to play with a normal ridge but we reached the Equator in a very decent time." They reached the Equator after around 7 days 3 hours - a respectible time but some way outside Olivier de Kersauson's record of 6 days 1 hour set during her 2003 attempt.

Remarkably prior to the start in addition to watching the development of the weather in the North Atlantic due to the speed of their craft Peyron, his navigator Roger Nilson and their meteorological advisors had also been watching the development of the weather in the South Atlantic.

"One of the reasons why we chose to accelerate the start was to play this little front in the South Atlantic and we were lucky enough to be in a position where we could catch it. So it became very obvious that we should push. And we pushed and we succeeded in catching it. That was the first difficult strategy decision about the angles, because we had to push hard on the wind to keep some east in our route compared to what we were used to doing in the southeast trades and it was very hard on the boat because we had to push against the waves and against the 35 knots of wind for two and a half days."

Catching the front was the ticket to a fast passage into the Southern Ocean (just as the Vendee Globe leaders did). From there throughout the Southern Ocean, past Cape Horn and all the way up to Rio Peyron says they rode just one weather system - it would be hard to imagine getting more favourable weather.

He agrees they were lucky with the weather, but believes it may also have been down to the fact that Orange II is that bit faster than the previous generation of boats and as a result had a better ability to 'play' the weather system. If you boat can travel at the same speed or faster than a weather system is moving then you can effectively choose your position on it and thus get your boat's optimum sailing conditions - flat water and 20-30 knots from somewhere west. "We don’t know if it was lucky or something else or a mix of many things. It is the first time a boat has been fast enough to play the game with the low as we did. So as soon as you get the right one, you can keep it. It is a new world.

"I had the feeling that for the first time since I started sailing we had full control of what we were doing all the time," continues Peyron. "It is funny feeling. As i have explained, very soon I think we will be able to surf on isobars. You can imagine yourself on a giant board surfing around the world just on isobars. If you have good angles, you keep the wave and that is what happened to us. If you sail bad angles you lose the wave and you have to wait for the next one."



The only aspect of the Southern Ocean that might have gone better for them was the threat of ice from the Indian Ocean onward. "We had a discussion about whether or not we played it stupid with the ice and the consensus came very easily. Everyone followed me in not wanting to play Russian roulette which is completely stupid. So we try to play this game to protect ourselves in the night [ie gybe north] and to come back in the day to touch the shortest course [ie gybe south].

"Then there was the long Pacific passage with not very good angles, because we were dead downwind but we succeeded to have acceptable routes with these bad angles and broken another two or three records," continues Peyron.

Generally the routing was relatively obvious in the Southern Ocean, the only cause of 'discussion' being when the boat was caught in bad seas. "Then we had a little bit of discussion because it was very important that everyone understands how bad it can be in bad seas in such a boat. So we were a lot more careful about the sea state, because these two little starboard gybes in the Indian Ocean were very violent for the boat and I don’t like to push the boat that hard if it is not necessary."

If they were lucky with the weather in the Southern Ocean, they were even more so returning north up the South Atlantic when they were able to shoot north propelled by strong southwesterlies instead of experiencing the more usual light winds or headwinds. Due to their skill/luck throughout the Southern Ocean Orange II never saw more than 30 knots of wind and the only time they did was briefly on the approach to the Falkland Islands.

On 27 February (day 34) Orange II collided with what was believed to have been a whale, damaging the leading edge of the port rudder. When they finally ran out of breeze just after Rio they took the opportunity to inspect the damage and fortunately it proved to be only superficial. At this stage Orange II was an incredible 10 days ahead of Cheyenne's outright round the world record (see below) and was on track for reducing the Jules Verne Trophy to just 48.5 days...

Sadly this was not to be as after a swift passage through the Doldrums and into the northeasterly Trades of the North Atlantic the weather situation became highly complex and for four days the crew had to put up with seeing their massive lead diminish as they dealt with light winds. For fortunately once they were further north they were able to hook into southwesterly winds associated with eastbound North Atlantic depressions allowing the big cat to all but fly towards the Ushant finish line.



How they did it

While Peyron and his crew were obviously lucky with the weather in the southern hemisphere, Orange II also clearly demonstrated herself to be the world's fastest offshore sail boat. Did her speed surprise Peyron? "We have been working to study and to try to build the fastest machine in the world for the next few years. My feeling was that Orange II should have the potential to be a few percent faster than anything else on the water today. By what percentage I didn’t know at all. We learned a little bit last summer when we broke the 24 hour record and almost made the Atlantic record and did the Med and everything. So obviously we noticed we probably have succeeded in the first challenge of creating the right tool, especially because we had the bad rudders and everything. Then the ways we improved it in the months after were exactly right - new rudders, very good preparation, a very good team, a good weather team. To achieve such a goal you have the combination of every field at the right level. If you are missing just one of them you can’t achieve that."

As the boat is clearly firstly stiffer and stronger than the previous generation of Ollier & Associates G-Class catamarans and second has much greater freeboard, the air draught of the beams much increased, the crew were able to drive the boat harder. "We were able to sail it a bit harder because the major transformation is in the freeboard and in the crossarms so we can keep a reasonable level of safety while pushing very hard."

Being further out of the water also helps keep the crew dry and protection for the crew is a subject Peyron is keen on. "The space inside and out and the ergonomics have been studied taking some lessons from the past, not only from the generation of boats from The Race but my other boats before (Peyron has conceived, owned and raced large catamarans since the late 1970s..) We have been working in the same direction for 15 years now, so it is logical at the end of this period that we have almost the perfect tool. It is a good job from all the team and I am very proud of it.

"The protection of the helmsman is not yet what I want, so we are going to continue to improve that because I have been convinced for many years that the evolution is going to be like an offshore powerboat. The only way to be able to control these machines at 40 knots is to protect the guys. So I was the first person to put this kind of walls around the cockpit to protect the cockpit and now we can finish the shape." In other words Orange III - which it is hard to see Peyron not producing at some stage in the next few years - may feature fully enclosed cockpits.

In terms of his choice of crew Peyron says: "As usual I am very keen on the spirit of the guys, their open mind and their ability to live in good harmony in such a challenge. I am not interested in achieving just a sportive goal unless it is in the right manner. The way to do that is almost as important as the goal itself. Then they have to have to have a very high level of skill in their speciality and they have to be very complimentary. I am also very keen to open this world which is sometimes a little bit too closed. So that is why I am pleased to have guys from the America’s Cup, Figaro and the Around Alone like Bernard Stamm."

Orange II's crew for the Jules Verne Trophy record comprised 13 crew in addition to Peyron:

Bruno Peyron (skipper)
Roger Nilson (navigator, medic)
Lionel Lemonchois (watch leader, helmsman)
Philippe Peche (watch leader, helmsman)
Yann Elies (watch leader, helmsman)
Ronan Le Goff (rigging and maneouvres)
Sebastien Audigane (helmsman, safety)
Jacques Caraes (trimmer, video)
Florent Chastel (ropes)
Yves le Blevec (trimmer)
Jean-Baptiste Epron (trimmer, supplies and logistics)
Nicolas de Castro (boat builder)
Ludovic Aglaor (helm)
Bernard Stamm (helm, mechanics)

With Nilson and Peyron out of the watch system so they ran three watches off four with the standby watch coming to assist, along with Peyron and/or Nilson, in manoeuvres. Each watch had two main drivers and a watch leader. For this voyage Peyron says he didn't drive due working with Nilson on the navigation and having huge media commitments (based from his own 'office' next door the chart table in the stern of the starboard hull).

What's next?

From here Peyron says he is not certain of his plans and whether Orange wishes to continue. An obvious record that eluded him last year was an attempt on another of Steve Fossett's record - the west to east record across the North Atlantic. Longer terms he looking at entering the 2007 anniversary Mini Transat and is working on a project with brother Stephane to build a large monohull with which to go exploring (in a similar style to the late Sir Peter Blake's set-up).

Intriguing Peyron is also contemplating sailing Orange II...singlehanded. "To tell you the truth, when Club Med was designed, it was designed for singlehanded transformation already in the cross arms - to put in the self tacking rail and the nacelle. Everything was set up before we finished the boat. The same with Innovation Explorer ( Orange 1). My goal was to try to be the first to sail around the world singlehanded in less than 80 days, but my friend Francis got that and I was very happy for him. It was a very nice voyage this year and then Ellen this year."

The most likely record Peyron would attempt sailing his 120ft catamaran singlehanded is the solo 24 hour record. "I did a couple of days training in the late spring on Orange II. It was interesting. It is less about power and more about thinking. The first mistake to make on this kind of boat is to have a bunch of very strong guys who think they can manage the boat. That is the beginning of big trouble. Nobody is able to control the boat if something goes bad, so the only way to have some kind of control is to think a lot. We sail with 14 crew with the same kind of philosophy as you have to have singlehanded: You have to anticipate a lot."

Here at thedailysail we would like to congratulate Bruno Peyron, Roger Nilson and the crew of Orange II on another outstanding record.


History of Jules Verne Trophy attempts

Date	Boat	Type	Skipper	Time
1993	Charal	27m van Peteghem Prevost tri	Olivier de Kersauson	Retired day 23 after collision
1993	ENZA New Zealand	26m Irens catamaran	Peter Blake/Robin Knox-Johnston	Retired day 27 after collision
1993	Commodore Explorer	26m Ollier catamaran	Bruno Peyron	79 days 6 hours 15 minutes 56 seconds
1994	ENZA New Zealand	26m Irens catamaran	Peter Blake/Robin Knox-Johnston	74 days 22 hourr 17 minutes 22 seconds
1994	Lyonnaise des Eaux Dumas	27m van Peteghem Prevost tri	Olivier de Kersauson	Too slow. Finished in 77 days 2 hours
1996	Sport Elec	27m van Peteghem Prevost tri	Olivier de Kersauson	Too slow. Abandoned
1997	Sport Elec	27m van Peteghem Prevost tri	Olivier de Kersauson	71 days 14 hours 22 minutes 8 seconds
1998	Royal & SunAlliance	26m Irens catamaran	Tracy Edwards	Dismasted on day 43
2002	Geronimo	34m van Peteghem Prevost tri	Olivier de Kersauson	Retired day 11 with steering problems
2002	Orange 1	33m Ollier catamaran	Bruno Peyron	Retired after 30 minutes with broken mast top
2002	Orange 1	33m Ollier catamaran	Bruno Peyron	64 days 8 hour 37 minutes 24 seconds
2003	Geronimo	34m van Peteghem Prevost tri	Olivier de Kersauson	Too slow. Finished in 68 days 1 hours 58 minutes 02 seconds
2003	Kingfisher II	33m Ollier catamaran	Ellen MacArthur	Dismasted day 26
2004	Orange II	36.8m Ollier catamaran	Bruno Peyron	Retired twice following broken crash box and then prop shaft fairing
2004	Geronimo	34m van Peteghem Prevost tri	Olivier de Kersauson	Retired day 12 with broken genniker
2004	Cheyenne	38m Morrelli Melvin cat	Steve Fossett	58 days, 9 hours, 32 mins and 45secs*
2004	Geronimo	34m van Peteghem Prevost tri	Olivier de Kersauson	63 days, 13 hours, 59 minutes and 46 seconds*
2005	Orange II	36.8m Ollier catamaran	Bruno Peyron	50 days 16 hours

*Fossett having not paid the entry fee for the Jules Verne Trophy attempt was not awarded it when he set a new 58 day time for his non-stop round the world record attempt. So when de Kersauson arrived later he was awarded it despite sailing a time 5 days 5 hours slower.