Approaching Recife

Banque Populaire crew already eyeing up the North Atlantic

Chart above courtesy of Expedition/Tasman Bay Navigation Systems and PredictWind

Not a great deal of change in Banque Populaire's situation today compared to yesterday other than that they are a further 472 miles further north, it is warmer, the wind is slowly veering around into the East and this should allow them to scrape past the Brazilian coast at Recife, still some 239 miles to their north. Their lead over Jules Verne Trophy record holder Groupama 3 remains more or less unchanged from yesterday - still just over 1,000.

"We are pleased with what has been done and now it's straight to the northeastern Brazil," advised their shore-based router Marcel van Triest. "Their lead will increase further in the coming hours and that is good, because we will have more miles to sail than Groupama 3. The Doldrums won't slow us too badly - it will deal us what nature decides and we will have no choice. Then there will be two possible routes north, one direct and one that will make a wide detour to avoid the Azores high. We are studying it closely."

Skipper Loick Peyron commented: "We will cross the Equator in relatively good shape. Theoretically, today it looks like we will a day faster Equator to Ecuador than the best time, still held by my brother Bruno. Right now the wind is irregular, but we are in the trade winds. It is very variable - between 14 and 20 knots. There are many squalls. It should stay like this until the Equator. Soon, we should converge with the coast of Brazil at Recife, but we will be careful not to get too close. Then it will be at the Doldrums and then more trade winds, but in the North these will hopefully be on a more comfortable wind angle."

Despite having 17,000 miles in her wake, the furthest Banque Populaire has sailed since she was launched, including the whole of the Southern Ocean, ironically it is likely to be in the North Atlantic that causes the most wear and tear on the 40m trimaran, says Peyron.

"It's going be a little difficult for the hardware over the coming days. The problem is that with 5,000 miles to go, and on a multihull, when moving from one wave to the next, it feels like we're losing a tooth! There are small signs of fatigue evident on the boat. We sent Florent Chastel to the top of the mast yesterday to check it all. There are small signs of wear, especially on the mainsail tracks, but that is quite normal."

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