So near but so far

James Boyd looks back at the nuts and bolts of Geronimo's failed Jules Verne attempt

Frustration in extremis, can be all that the crew of Olivier de Kersauson's Geronimo must have been feeling for the last few days as they have seen the prospects of them breaking Orange's record for the Jules Verne Trophy slip through their fingers.

Midway through Geronimo's voyage it seemed to race commentators such as ourselves that it would not be a case of whether Bruno Peyron's record from last year would fall, but by how large a margin.

As the above graph indicates, there were points on this circumnavigation when the maxi-trimaran was speeding across the Southern Ocean that she was more than 1,300 miles ahead of Orange's equivalent position at the same point into her voyage. For de Kersauson and his crew to have lost the record only two days away from the finish line after two months as sea, is hard to contemplate.

Until Cape Horn Geronimo's run was the fastest round the world passage ever made - by a considerable margin.

She set sail from the Ouessant-Lizard start line at 03:00:39 GMT on Saturday 11 January 2003 in a 25 knot north northeasterly breeze and had a blistering run down to the Equator. While Orange failed to break ENZA New Zealand's record to the Equator of 7 days and 22 hours, Geronimo demolished it setting a new time of 6 days 11 hours 26 minutes and 21 seconds.

The South Atlantic, as always, proved a little more problematic and Geronimo had to take a slightly more circuitous route around the South Atlantic high than Orange while passing the coast of Brazil. This added miles to her course, but apart from a downturn in her performance on day 11 she was still continuing to put in a string of 400-500 mile daily runs.

Just two weeks into her voyage and Geronimo was passing the 40th parallel and was into the Southern Ocean. By this stage she was already 1,000 miles or 2-3 days ahead of Orange's record.

Two days later on 20 January at 17:35:35 GMT Geronimo passed the longitude of the Cape of Good Hope setting another new record. Her time from Ouessant to the first great cape of the Jules Verne course was 16 days, 14 hours, 35 minutes and 26 seconds an impressive two days, four hours and five minutes ahead of Orange's record. In comparison on leg one of the Volvo Ocean Race, albeit not being able to choose when they could start, on the longer course from Southampton and having to approach Cape Town, leg winner illbruck took 31 days 6 hours - almost twice as long.

Geronimo's progress continued ablaze through the Southern Ocean. Past the Cape of Good Hope Geronimo was able to dive further south. It seemed that de Kersauson was heading for 50degS. However on day 23, 3 February, for the first time in the voyage the weather began to conspire against the crew of the big tri when a depression to their southeast (see image below) was forecast to intensify. To save the boat, de Kersauson opted to swing back north.



For the best part of 2,000 miles and pretty much until she was about to run into Tasmania, Geronimo was forced to sail along 45degS, adding considerably to the miles she had to sail. Despite this she was still able to maintain high speeds and set her second major record of the voyage when she passed to the south of Cape Leeuwin, setting a new record from Ouessant of 26 days, 4 hours, 53 minutes and 13 seconds. This was 3 days, 2 hours and 29 minutes ahead of Orange's time.

After 9 February as she passed to the south of New Zealand, the weather conditions allowed Geronimo to once again dive south and by 11 February (day 31) she was down at 55degS in optimum Southern Ocean mode riding the northwesterlies in the northeastern quadrant of a depression.

In a repeat of what happened to her in the Indian Ocean, the first part of their crossing of the Pacific section of Southern Ocean continued well for Geronimo until 18 February (day 38) when they spotted an iceberg. Following this de Kersauson made the call to sail north once again above the 52nd parallel. Relative to Orange's record at this stage Geronimo was losing ground as Peyron's big cat had put in a series of 500 mile days on her approach to the Horn. The added miles by sailing to the north of the direction route Olivier de Kersauson estimated cost them 250 extra miles.

Geronimo rounded Cape Horn at 19:16:13GMT on 20 February (day 40). Once again she had established a new record, covering the passage from Ouessant to Cape Horn in a blazing 40 days, 16 hours, 16 minutes and 9 seconds compared to Orange's 42 days 2 hours 52 minutes. However her lead over Orange by this stage had halved to 1.5 days, with Orange hanging on to her record of 12 days, 19 hours and 30 minutes between Cape Leeuwin and the Horn (in comparison Geronimo sailed this passage in 14 days 12 hours).

For Orange the passage north up the Atlantic had not been particularly favourable - they took an unconventional route through the middle of the South Atlantic high although made up ground in the favourable winds to its northeast and then in the North Atlantic had to give the Azores high a wide berth before they could head east towards the finish line.

It could not go worse for Geronimo surely? It could.



The South Atlantic high seemed to be glued to the coast of South America as the forecast chart for 23 February shows. Geronimo was forced to beat up the coast of South America in light conditions. Over the next few days her lead over Orange evaporated and by 26 February they were neck and neck with Orange's equivalent position.

The courses up the South Atlantic could not have been more different - Orange had sailed as far east as 15degW - in the middle of the South Atlantic - to get across the South Atlantic high while at this same latitude Geronimo was at 43degW.

Once to the north of the high Geronimo was once again able to pick up speed and sailing a more direct course to the Equator pulled our a lead again although it was hard to measure by how much because of their different routes north.

On at 12:37:48 GMT on 5 March (day 53) Geronimo crossed the Equator, 53 days, 9 hours, 37 minutes and 39 seconds after starting her voyage. This was 4 hours and 48 minutes later than Orange but at this stage Peyron's big cat was still a long way east and by our reckoning Geronimo at this point was still 110nm ahead on the expected race track.

Out of the Doldrums and into the northeasterly Trades on 8 March (day 56) Geronimo once again picked up pace, but not relative to Orange who was also speeding along at this stage of her tour. But this was not nearly as bad news as the forecast. This was looking terrible, with the weather in the North Atlantic in an extremely volatile state.

Had they still been two days ahead of the record at this point there was a convenient low pressure system over the Azores which might have allowed them to sail directly at the finish line taking several hundred miles off their passage time. If this had been the case Geronimo could have basked in setting a new 60 day record for the Jules Verne Trophy.

However they weren't and the Azores high pressure was establishing itself from the west into an unusual cigar shape running north to south between about 35degN to 55degN. De Kersauson opted to take his chances and head directly for the line. As Orange's record time passed last Sunday (16 March) Geronimo was less than 600 miles from the finish some 270 miles to the west of Cape Finisterre. In normal mode this would represent a day and a half sailing. In the event conditions were so light and flukey - an highly improbable for this time of year - that it was not until 20 March at 04:58:11 that she finally crawls across the finish line. Her time from starting was 68 days 1 hours 58 minutes 02 seconds compared to Orange's time of 64 days 8 hours 37 minutes and 24 seconds.

Merde - as Olivier de Kersauson would say.



Conclusion:

Geronimo's circumnavigation shows just what a bastard record the Jules Verne Trophy can be. While it certainly helps to have a fast giant multihull that can rack up 400-500 mile daily runs with relative ease her voyage shows how just to what degree Mother Nature is master.

As Ellen MacArthur wisely pointed out prior to her setting sail on Kingfisher2 if you had reaching conditions in 25 knots winds and flat water all the way a 50 day Jules Verne Trophy record would be possible but those conditions will never happen. It seems that the 60 day circumnavigation is going to prove more elusive than we thought and at the end of the day will fall to the crew who get lucky with the weather and can hold their boat together.

Giant multihulls are fast enough that they can often be positioned in the right part of the ocean but even they haven't found a way to make them sail fast when there is no wind.

The house is still out on whether a trimaran is better than a catamaran for this record. Geronimo's voyage proves that there is little difference in their relative speeds in the Southern Ocean. Where conditions matter most is in the light or upwind (or both) conditions experienced in the return up the Atlantic. Theoretically the reduced wetted surface area of a trimaran in these conditions should make the three-hulled format faster.

The season is now over for Jules Verne attempts, but it is likely that Bruno Peyron will make another attempt on board the new giant catamaran he is due to launch later this year. There is also little doubt that Olivier de Kersauson, the man most addicted to making attempts on this record (he held it prior to Orange breaking it) will be back for a fresh attempt this coming winter.

Below: the blue line shows Geronimo's daily 24 hour runs, while the fuchsia line shows how her average speed over the duration of the trip changed on a day by day basis.



Below: showing the difference in day by day average speeds between Geronimo and Peter Blake and Robin Knox-Johnston's ENZA New Zealand in 1994. The new generation of boat would seem to be on average 2-3 knots faster.