Orange rolls on

Transat record attempt for Bruno Peyron, Route du Rhum for Ravussin

As announced at the end of October 2005, during the press conference presenting the Orange sailing team, the G-Class maxi-catamaran Orange II, skippered by Bruno Peyron, will be continuing with her programme of records in 2006. The main feature will be another attempt at the North Atlantic crewed record. Meanwhile, a new Orange Project trimaran, skippered by Stève Ravussin will be lining up for the start of the 2006 Route du Rhum.

The North Atlantic crewed record for Orange II

Bruno Peyron and his men promised themselves that they would return to New York to line up once again for the start of the mythical North Atlantic record. We should add that they just missed out on it in August 2004 by some 31 minutes... They are about to keep their promise, as Orange II will soon be heading across to the States bound for New York and the starting line of the west to east Atlantic record. Bruno and his crew have given themselves the target of being on stand-by in New York from 15 May. Before then, if weather conditions allow, Orange II might have a go at bettering her own 24-hour crewed world record (706.2 miles), and then maybe the single-handed 24 hour record too...

The 2006 Route du Rhum for the Orange Project trimaran

After the fine start that Stève Ravussin got off to during the last edition of the Transat Jacques Vabre, his trimaran suffered severe damage and was unable to finish the race. However, this roaring start showed Stève's talent in full. He will therefore be returning to Saint-Malo at the end of October for the start of the Route du Rhum with his new Orange project trimaran (the former Banque Populaire III).


Interview with Bruno Peyron

Q: Orange II is continuing her campaign with priority given to another attempt at the North Atlantic record.
Bruno Peyron : Indeed, that is our priority for the 2006 season. The North Atlantic record is the most prestigious after the round the world voyage and also the fastest and so the most difficult to beat, taking into account the very high average speed that is needed (25.78 knots average speed for the crossing). We managed to obtain the second best performance ever back in 2004, and so now we need to be the best by beating the incredible time set by Steve Fossett in October 2001 (4 days, 17 h, 28 mins 06 secs).

Q : How will you be getting ready for this new attempt at the Atlantic?
BP: The preparation is simple enough: we take the boat to New York, get her ready technically in Newport, carry out some training on the spot, study the weather, get the right team together and then go on the attack!

Q : What line-up have you chosen for the crew taking part with you in this record ?
BP: The crew is currently being chosen and will be announced once we are on stand-by in New York.

Q : Your previous attempt only missed out on the record by a few minutes. What do you think about that when you look back today?
BP : To be honest, I think we made two mistakes: the first was setting sail a little too early. The boat managed speeds above what we were expecting, and so we overtook the weather system and were forced to gybe 90° to the route for 7 hours to get ourselves back on track. The second mistake was not gybing again soon enough after getting back on track. I?ve only got myself to blame. As far as everything else was concerned, we sailed well and would have beaten the record all the same, if the wind hadn?t come around over the last few hours, which forced us to carry out one more fatal gybe just before The Lizard. However, that?s what it?s all about. You just have to learn to live with your mistakes.

Q : The other news from the Orange sailing team concerns Stève Ravussin?s participation in the Route du Rhum !
BP : Yes, that?s great news. The contract with Stève was due to run until the Route du Rhum and I?m pleased to say a solution was found to enable Team Orange to be present for the Route du Rhum, which is a major event. I think Stève will be fully determined to confirm the magnificent performance that he achieved at the start of the Transat Jacques Vabre.

History: The North Atlantic crossing record
The first record performance on this route was set by Charlie Barr, the captain of the Atlantic schooner. Back in 1905, the proud vessel finished the journey in 12 days and 4 hours, which was to remain the record for the next 75 years. Eric Tabarly was to improve on the performance by 2 days in 1980 on board his foiler trimaran Paul Ricard, at an average speed of 11.93 knots. The next attempts were to be made more and more often and the record time was cut further by the great French multihull yachtsmen: Marc Pajot, Patrick Morvan, Loïc Caradec, Philippe Poupon and finally Serge Madec... On board Jet Services V (the future Commodore Explorer), the latter was to achieve a performance of 6 days, 13 hours and 3 minutes in 1990, which was to remain the record for 11 years! We had to wait for the major achievement from the American Steve Fossett for the record to be smashed: On 10th October 2001, PlayStation established a legendary performance in 4 days, 17 hours, 28 minutes and 6 seconds !

North Atlantic crewed record
Route: New York / The Lizard (south western tip of Great Britain)
Current record: Steve Fossett / giant catamaran PlayStation / 10th October 2001
Record time to beat: 4 days, 17 hours, 28 minutes and 06 seconds
Average speed during the crossing: 25.78 knots

24-hour crew record:
Current record: Orange II / Bruno Peyron / 23rd August 2004
Record to beat: 706.2 miles
Average over 24 hours: 29.42 knots average speed