Slow day for Geronimo

Wind craps out for de Kersauson

Day 48	Position	24hr run	Av speed	Rel position
Geronimo	25°33S 39°53W	213nm	8.88	+470nm
Orange	33°45S 18°51W	400nm	16.67	-

Geronimo´s position at 15:00 GMT today: 23°58S 39°41W
Distance travelled in 12 hours : 95 nautical miles
Average speed over the last 12 hours: 7.9 knots point-to-point

Another slow day for Geronimo as she claws her way along the Brazil coast. Remarkably because of Orange's northeasterly course across the south Atlantic, Geronimo has picked up miles again on the record pace.

This morning, Geronimo reached 25° South using what little northerly breeze she could find. Having entered the most critical part of this westerly option, the Cap Gemini and Schneider Electric sponsored trimaran has lost the westerly air flow from the small depression that brought her as far north as 30° South and is currently becalmed at the centre of a virtually windless area, in which just a few 5- to 10-knot gusts managed to break the surface of the water before disappearing during last night. It is vital that Olivier de Kersauson and his 10-man crew make it to 20° South as quickly as possible to pick up the first of the easterly trade winds.

The daytime air temperature is now 30°C, but below decks, where there is no movement of air or ventilation, the heat rises to 40°C and more. This level of heat gives rise to small thermal flows which the crew are trying their best to exploit to the full, using every scrap of Geronimo’s slack wind potential. As Olivier de Kersauson told us yesterday, the crewmembers are very energetic and focused even though very little is happening. Everyone realises that this situation is a real problem. The trade winds that are currently teasing Geronimo from a distance of 300 sea miles are not as powerful as those that brought Orange home last year and their current speed is no more than 10 knots. In this variable state, they could move several hundred miles further north within a few hours. “The system is no longer producing wind and nothing is happening. The worst part is that all the forecasts are pessimistic. The outlook is pretty poor and I’m beginning to think it’ll take a miracle”, says the skipper.

So, the hours ahead hold little promise, and only the 4-day forecast predicts even the slightest change, although even that is far from certain. As they wait, the Cap Gemini and Schneider Electric crew are managing just 7.4 knots into a 5.8 knot headwind and current.