Big day for Geronimo

French trimaran speeds south

Olivier de Kersauson and the crew of his Cap Gemini/Schneider Electric trimaran Geronimo have the bit firmly between their teeth now as strong northwesterly winds over the past 24 hours as allowed them to reel off a useful 608 miles in the 24 hours up until 2317 this evening. De Kersauson clearly feels that the benchmark for the round the world record has been raised as in their attempt last year, which was considered fast up until Cape Horn, Geronimo's best run was just 550 miles.

Currently Geronimo is roughly 80 miles ahead of Cheyenne's end of day 15 position and some 515 miles ahead of Orange's Jules Verne record ( Orange had a tough time hooking up with a Southern Ocean depression during her attempt in 2002).

Geronimo's current position shows her to be further south even that Cheyenne was at this stage. This will be because of the position of the South Atlantic high pressure system that now is centred slightly to the north of the longitude of Cape Town. This system is set to continue south today and will force Geronimo deeper into the Roaring Forties. It looks likely that she may have to drop down as far as 47degS to avoid its clutches. Fortunatley come Saturday the high will stop its descent at around 39degS and Geronimo should be able to make speedy progress towards the longitude of the Cape of Good Hope which we would anticipate she will cross on Sunday.

“We’re extending our lead well, there’s plenty of wind and it’s manageable with good gliding conditions," commented de Kersauson. "We’re putting a reasonable level of strain on the boat and we’re determined to keep up the pace. The crew is really happy because the boat is making much better progress than last year, with a 5 to 7% higher average overall. And despite having mediocre conditions all the way down through the Atlantic, we’re still ahead of the record”.

Prior to the big run the crew had been carrying out maintenance. “There were guys everywhere, two in the mast, six on deck and the rest below - a real DIY makeover!" said de Kersauson. "We also lowered the mainsail to do some work on the head of the sail. It was on the deck for 27 minutes - we timed it - and the whole operation cost us only 1 mile on the GPS. This crew is just the best - absolutely impeccable. It’s a real pleasure to sail with these blokes - fantastic!”