And another record for de Kersauson

This time Geronimo sets sail to break Bruno Peyron's west to east Transpacific record

At 11:04:39 local time Monday, 29 May 2006, the CapGemini and Schneider Electric sponsored trimaran Geronimo set sail from Yokohama Bay bound for San Francisco. For this attempt at the Pacific record from west to east, the crew on board Geronimo will have to better the record of 14 days, 17 hours, 22 minutes and 50 seconds set by Bruno Peyron.

Olivier de Kersauson and his 8-man crew, made up on six Frenchmen, one American and an Australian, left Bayside Marina Quay in Yokohama on Monday morning just before 10:00 local time.

In a 12-knot southerly wind, Geronimo crossed the starting line at 02:04:39 GMT. The French trimaran will have to reach the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco before 19:27:29GMT, 11 June 2006 in order to beat the existing record.

After waiting for 10 days in Japan, Olivier de Kersauson has taken advantage of a window in the weather offering a reasonable opportunity to get underway. “It’s far from being the best situation, but the front looks like it’s strengthening. In any case, there is no decent weather alternative coming up for the next ten days, so we might as well make the most of this opportunity which could quite easily become the right one.

“On our record setting run from east to west, we learned how unreliable and quite changeable the weather is in this region of the Pacific. This current front could very well take us to the other side or just as easily abandon us in two days. For this reason, if necessary, I’m allowing myself and our crew the possibility of returning to Japan to start all over again,” he concludes.

The crew

Olivier de Kersauson
Didier Ragot
Jean Charles Corre
Lucas Zamecnik
Xavier Douin
Antoine Deru
Philippe Laot
Mat Bryant
Christopher Links