Summer holiday over for de Kersauson

As Geronimo is soon to leave Papette bound for California and a Transpac record attempt

After a long stay in Polynesia since 8 August, Geronimo, Olivier de Kersauson's Capgemini-Schneider Electric sponsored trimaran is getting ready to take to sea again to head for the west coast of the US and San Diego..

After setting a new record time for the voyage between Sydney and Papeete, Geronimo has since been undergoing a complete check-up to ensure she is ready for the Transpacific record attempt from Los Angeles to Hawaii. Apart from routine maintenance work, such as changing the running rigging and cleaning the hull, the canted mast anchoring points have been renewed. Last year, Geronimo's wingmast was given the ability to cant, and is the only maxi-multihull with this system, commonplace on the 60ft trimarans. This work proved tricky, as it requiring the upper surface of the floats to be opened up to enable the crew to work on their internal structure.

Olivier de Kersauson's trimaran is due to set sail from Polynesian waters in the coming days to head for San Diego, which she should reach in a fortnight or so. Once there, she will take advantage of the facilities on Shelter Island, set up specifically for the 1995 America's Cup. While the exact departure time has not yet been fixed, some North American sailors will be joining Geronimo's French crew with the goal of improving on the 5 days, 9 hours, 18 minutes and 26 seconds Transpac record time set by Bruno Peyron in 1997.