Past the Falklands

Geronimo charges on in her quest to break the Jules Verne record

Day 42	Position	24hr run	Av speed	Rel position
Geronimo	52°08S 57°36W	348nm	14.5	+640nm
Orange	56°14S 68°28W	544nm	22.7	-

Geronimo's position at 15:00 GMT today (16:00 French time): 49°24S - 55°51W
Distance travelled in 12 hours : 177 nautical miles
Average speed over the last 12 hours: 14,74 knots

The Cap Gemini and Schneider Electric sponsored crew on board Geronimo passed the Falkland Islands this morning. Yesterday was a day of transition period with little sustained wind (blowing between 10 and 12 knots), resulting in just 349 nautical miles covered. Still driven by an irregular breeze, Olivier de Kersauson's trimaran is now back on the direct route making an average of almost 15 knots.

The weather pattern in the South Atlantic remains complex and as Geronimo's skipper explained during yesterday's bulletin: "It means we have to pay close attention to every aspect of boat trim to get the most out of conditions that are not good by any stretch of the imagination".

The new 'Cape Horners' haven't yet had the time to celebrate their rounding of the famous cape, but for Yves Pouillaude (the Cap Gemini watch captain), this was the third time and for Didier Ragot (the Schneider Electric watch captain) and Marc Le Fur their second. For Geronimo's skipper, this was the sixth rounding of Cape Horn (his first was with Eric Tabarly on board Pen Duick VI in the 1973 Whitbread).

It should be noted that Geronimo's lead over Orange is now down to 640nm, just over a day ahead (a couple of weeks ago she was about 3 days ahead). This is diminishing of her lead is due to Orange's phenomenal pace in the last few days of her crossing of the Southern Ocean and also Geronimo having to sail the extra distance to Cape Horn.