Back on track

Cheyenne underway again after successfully effecting repairs

Skipper Steve Fossett reported late this afternoon that Cheyenne's wayward Forestay, broken during last night, had been reconnected - and he and his team of 13 are once again sailing at speed and on course in their attempt round the world record bid.

Before this morning's drama, Cheyenne was over 500 nautical miles ahead of the 2002 record track of Orange. Even during the 16+ hour repair process, forward progress on the course was made.

Steve Fossett described the repair undertaken: "The crew of Cheyenne has reconnected the forestay. Cheyenne has gybed to the Southwest and is continuing its attempt to break the Round the World Sailing Record.

"The forestay cable, which supports the mast, pulled out of its end fitting. None of us on board has ever seen this fitting fail before. The repair process took over 16 hours and was accomplished using hand tools - where this type of work is usually done in a rigging shop with specialised heavy equipment.

"This is defining of the most professional distance sailors. They can fix things at sea where normally we would have to retire to the nearest port. Despite meticulous preparation, these high performance multihulls cannot be expected to make it Round the World without mandatory repairs at sea."