Orange II imminent

Bruno Peyron's maxi-catamaran due to reach the Lizard any time now...

In the next few minutes Orange II is going to shatter the North Atlantic record...

The deed is almost done. Unless there is some damage or an incident occurs in the last minutes, Bruno Peyron and the other 11 men on board will be smashing the North Atlantic record. Already the fastest around the world and the fastest over 24 hours, the Orange II maxi catamaran is due at the finishing line off The Lizard at around 18H GMT after one final gybe.

They will thus have crossed the Atlantic in 4 days and around 7 hours, bettering Steve Fossett's 4 days, 17 hours, 28 minutes and 6 seconds record by about ten hours.

At the check-in at 14h18 GMT, Orange II only had about 80 miles to go and was still advancing at an average speed of 20 knots. As expected, the wind has eased off and the crew have been gentle with their boat due to the damage to her port rudder following a collision with an unidentified floating object the day before yesterday.

Bruno Peyron brought us up to date: "The speed has dropped off, but it was deliberate because of the problem with the rudder and the wind eased off as forecast. However, still with 17 knots of wind, we’re managing speeds of 24 knots… "

Contrary to what happened during their 2004 attempt on this record, when they had to push the boat hard and failed by a measly half hour, Orange II is this time a long way ahead of her virtual rival. At the latest comparison point, they had a lead of almost 300 miles over PlayStation… or around half a day’s sailing.

"We’re using our lead well, including in our calculations the short final tack", explained Bruno Peyron. "That isn’t worrying me. We’re really acting cautiously to ensure that the rudder stays with us until the end."

While like any self respecting sailor, Bruno Peyron swears "he feels nothing until the finishing line is crossed", he admitted in the end: "To be totally honest, it’s beginning to feel good. The seas aren’t rough and the rudder has held out for a day and a half, so I don’t see why it should break today, so if everything goes smoothly until late today it will be fine!"

They had to finish before tomorrow morning at 0428 to break the record. Orange II will be achieving a majestic victory by improving on this record by almost half a day, in the end probably around ten hours ahead.

"It will firstly be a feeling of pride for the teams that worked on the boat ashore last winter", the boss explained, "because we realised that the boat’s potential speed had been stepped up a notch. All of that is a question of development, a bit of reflection, a permanent questioning and when things turn out right, it’s very pleasing. Then, it’s only human to be happy at the finish. However, we’re not there yet. I can talk about that more tomorrow."

Steve Fossett, has already congratulated the crew for this exceptional crossing. "We received a little message from Steve yesterday," Peyron added, 2as pleasant as ever, each time we break one of his records, as he’s such a decent chap. I’m joking, because he’s pleased it was us. In any case, someone had to smash it one day!"