01.03.2004
Since yesterday, the Orange maxi-catamaran has been picking up speed and covered more than 500 miles over the past 24 hours, which is the giant cat's best performance since the start. 502,2 miles at 20,9 knots of average speed for the 4th day at sea... Less than 96 hours after having left the cold European winter, Bruno Peyron and his crew of 14 are now between the Canary and the Cape Verde Islands ! Orange has cleverly dealt with the trap of the high-pressure zone by sliding along the Moroccan coast before sneaking between Lanzarote (Canary) and the coast of Mauritania. "True, this route is not what one would call academic, yet it was justified by the position of the high", said Bruno Peyron today. "Now we're back in the west, and we've just done 20 straight hours at 21 knots of average speed. We're currently sailing in 20 knots of north-easterly wind, with gusts at 25. We now have to take a look at how to manage the passage of Cape Verde, and tomorrow we'll take a closer look at the Doldrums".
These past 24 hours clearly underline this "XXL" catamaran's potential. In fact, if yesterday Orange II was trying to avoid a tricky high off the African coast, today she's flying along and swallowed almost 500 on a single tack! Designed to maintain high average speeds, Orange II should keep up the pace for the coming 48 hours. As predicted, the wind came in from the north-east just off the Moroccan coast, settling at 20 knots — just your average well-behaved Trades, in fact. The maxi-catamaran then sailed leeward of Lanzarote (closest to the African continent than any other Canary Island), and then followed a south-west route in order to gain westward. "It's been a great pleasure to do at least 20 knots, with peaks around 28-29", says Sébastien Audigane, crewman-helmsman aboard Orange (and distinguished member of the Figaro class). "The boat slides gently, the manoeuvres are smoother and smoother... it looks like we're at home now". "The sea is rather predictable, and we sent up all the canvass the boat can hold — which means we're under full main and gennaker. There's no way we can hoist more sail surface", says Bruno, who confirms this already represents 1100 square metres! "We had to take everything down during the nightƒ we felt a slight impact, which caused the boat to stop quite sensibly. We checked around and discovered we had hit a big shark, maybe 2 or 3 metres long!"
What can be expected for the next 48 hours? "The wind conditions will change, shifting progressively to the west. From there, we'll have to handle the Cape Verde Islands passage. Several routes are possible, even though I do not like to cross through archipelagos. As far as the Doldrums are concerned, we'll see about that tomorrow". The conditions are looking good ahead, and Cape Verde Islands (400 miles away) should be behind Orange II by tomorrow evening (Peyron reckons the giant should cross the Equator on Thursday. Wednesday, the radio chat session will be held in the presence of Alain Prost and Laura Flessel (who officially launched the boat), while Orange II will be in the Doldrums — this "land of emptiness", as ancient sailors used to call it.
Quotes from Bruno Peyron:
Racing... "Geronimo's position is very interesting, because obviously we don't have the same analysis. We chose to sail to the west right now. Sailing down the Moroccan coast pays off at first, but afterwards it's difficult to regain good positioning. Maybe we're wrong, but we made our choice. It will become tighter and tighter. For the moment, we still have a big difference in terms of longitude but we know we'll cross the Equator with 60 to 100 miles of difference, at the most".
Supplies... "We don't have much fresh produce left onboard, apart from a few fruits. We have not particularly put any restrictions on that, so we all just help ourselves at will. And there's quite a big bunch of gulls onboard!"
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