Geronimo - out of the Doldrums

De Kersauson has taken a route far to the west

Above: Geronimo 's track is represented by the red square - Orange 's 2002 record route by the red Xs. De Kersauson has sailed considerably further west to avoid the Doldrums

Since last night, Geronimo seems to have found some rather more sustained wind, raising hopes that she may have left the notorious Doldrums behind.

By this morning, the giant tri was making 18 knots due south. If they have indeed left the Doldrums behind, this tricky passage will have gone very well for the crew, since the giant trimaran has only had to slow her pace for 24 hours, and even then still managed to cover 300 nautical miles yesterday. Given the conditions, things seem to have gone very well indeed, thanks to the crew’s decision to take a long detour to the west to find the best position from which to enter this infamous area of calms (see the map).

It is also due to the uncanny ability of the Cap Gemini and Schneider Electric watches to extract maximum performance from the boat in slack conditions. On each of her previous 8 days at sea, Geronimo has outrun her competitor and current Jules Verne Trophy holder, the maxi-catamaran, Orange (see table below). However, to put this data in perspective, Bruno Peyron was on a much more direct course to the Cape of Good Hope on his eighth day at sea.

For de Kersauson there remains the problem of how to deal with the St Helena high which at present is spanning almost the entire width of the South Atlantic. At present forecast charts show its centre to moving slowly south east. It will be interesting to see how the great round the worlder handles this.

	Position	24hr distance	Av speed
Geronimo	07°40S 32°11W	300nm	12.48
Orange	00°27S 25°06W	162nm	6.77

Geronimo's position at 14:00 GMT today (15:00 local time): 10°50S, 32°16W
Distance travelled in 11 hours: 190 nautical miles
Average speed over the last 11 hours: 17 knots

Day by day performance

	Orange		Geronimo
Date	24 hour run	Av Speed	Day	Date	24 hour run	Av Speed
03-Mar	457	19,02	1	11-Jan	472	19,65
04-Mar	472	19,65	2	12-Jan	485	20,21
05-Mar	442	18,43	3	13-Jan	503	20,96
06-Mar	472	19,66	4	14-Jan	501	20,87
07-Mar	467	19,45	5	15-Jan	525	21,88
08-Mar	373	15,54	6	16-Jan	527	21,94
09-Mar	401	16,69	7	17-Jan	419	17,46
10-Mar	162	6,77	8	18-Jan	300	12,48

Image below is the forecast for Monday's weather in the South Atlantic showing the complex system of high pressure systems which Geronimo must show how cross



The forecast chart below is for the same area for Thursday this week, showing a nice corridor of northwesterlies forming