Geronimo to cross the route of Adrien soon
29 February 20:00
It is likely that during tonight somewhere between the Canaries and the Cape Verde Islands, Geronimo will cross the route of Jean-Luc Van den Heede, who has only 2,300 nautical miles left to cover in his attempt on the single-handed round-the-world “the wrong way” record in his monohull Adrien.
Having set sail from Les Sables d’Olonne on 7 November last year on the Global Challenge, Jean-Luc Van den Heede has been at sea for 114 days and is 25 days ahead of the record set by Philippe Monnet on board UUNET in 2000.
The Amiens-based sailor explained earlier today (Sunday) that he had passed the Cape Verde Islands last night, beating upwind against 25 knots of north-easterly trade wind: these are the very conditions that Geronimo really revels in and since she will be running before the wind, will power her south very rapidly.
Geronimo reaches the Canaries.
29 February 17:00
The Cap Gemini and Schneider Electric trimaran has reached the Canaries at the end of Day 3, after 24 hours of sailing through unstable and irregular wind patterns. Constant jibing cost the crew dear in terms of point-to-point distance, with a total for the day of 324.80 nautical miles – the worst day since they crossed the start line.
Nevertheless, these hard-won miles have been gained on a fairly direct course, despite the absence of wind west of the Canaries, which means that Geronimo is well-placed to pick up the trade winds. These began to make their presence felt last night, with an average speed that is perfectly acceptable for this section of the route.
At 23:18 last night, Geronimo had 1808 nautical miles left to cover before reaching her first important seamark at the Equator which she should cross at approximately 25° west. That’s about 4 good days’ sailing, which makes it unlikely that they will be able to improve on the trimaran’s record time of 6 days, 11 hours and 26 minutes set last year. The time set by the current record holder (7 days 22 hours) could be within reach, however.
Positions - DAY 3.
GERONIMO
28°32N/14°47W
Distance covered in 24 hours: 324 nautical miles Average speed: 13.5 knots.
2002 Record.
29°06N/20°47W
Distance covered in 24 hours: 442 nautical miles Average speed: 18.43 knots.
Orange 2.
28°37N/13°00W
Distance covered in 24 hours: 393 nautical miles Average speed: 16.38 knots.
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