Battered

Geronimo runs from the effects of the intense southerly storm

Day 33
Position at 2317GMT: 48°34S 168°41W
24 hour run: 442.22 miles
Average speed: 18.43 knots

Having experienced gusts of up to 50 knots on day 32, the wind has abated to merely 35 knots over the course of day 33. Conditions may have been worse, but Olivier de Kersauson and the crew of the French Cap Gemini Schneider Electric-sponsored trimaran have elected to to head north, back into the Roaring Forties to save themselves and the boat

“We’re not racing anymore, we are just suffering," complained de Kersauson before making their move north. "The sea is incredibly violent, dangerous, hard, icy and dense. It’s moving from the pack ice up to our latitudes and further at between 30 and 35 knots. I’ve been here many times before, but I’ve never been attacked like this - I get the impression that it’s already winter and we’re too late.

“The sea is coming at us from the south and the wind is beam-on to our route. We’re surfing at 35 knots with very little canvas. It’s not the wind that’s giving us the problem, because if it were, then all we’d have to do is shorten sail and Geronimo would stay manageable. As things are, it’s the sea that’s making the decisions and sending us off downwind or wherever it wants. It’s wholesale slaughter. We’re trying to get further south at the moment, because if it carries on the way it is, we won’t even be able to get round Cape Horn. The depression is a long way north and very active. It’s blocking our route and forcing us as far north as 48 or even 46° - it’s sidelining us. We’ve still had no breakages on Geronimo, either because the boat’s so well made or because it’s a miracle. What’s certain is that we can’t stay in seas like this for too long, because something’s bound to get broken sooner rather than later. I’m looking at it from every angle, but I can’t see any way out. The door is closed. This depression spreads over 5° from north to south and 20° from east to west. We’re already 4° further north, but it’s not enough. We’re going to be forced to go 8 or 9° - nearly 1000 kilometres… To put it bluntly, things are not good”.

Geronimo are now positioned to the northwest of the depression that has been providing them with so much agro since the weekend. They are still experiencing southerly winds and seas. However the good news is that the depression is now behaving as a Southern Ocean depression should and has moderated slightly and is tracking ESE at roughly 110ft trimaran speed - so it looks like that Geronimo will be able to stay under the influence of the depression for the next few days.