Jules Verne Trophy - Orange II - Geronimo - Cheyenne www.fossettchallenge.com - zur Übersicht Geronimo’s performance in figures. [18 /3 /2004 ] Last night, the Cap Gemini and Schneider Electric trimaran completed Day 21 having covered a total of 542 nautical miles in the previous 24 hours at an average speed of 22.58 knots, having left the Crozet Islands in her wake: her seventh day of over 500 sea miles since the start. Since figures have become rather an obsession on board the trimaran and amongst her many followers, here they are in detail: Her average point-to-point speed since the stopwatch was triggered on the start line is 18.41 knots for a total distance covered of 9,280.63 nautical miles. But, as Yves Pouillaude, watch captain and the man in charge of the boat’s onboard systems, made clear this morning: “At 08:18 today, we had covered 10,000 nautical miles actual distance (rather than point-to-point) in 21 days and 9 hours – that’s an average speed of 19_ knots”. His figures refer to the true speed of the boat through the water as measured by the GPS, rather than the point-to-point values calculated at the end of each period. Comparison therefore shows that gibing, diverting around weather systems and other unavoidable zig-zagging have cost the boat 1 knot in average speed and 720 nautical miles. All of which underlines the desirability of straight line courses and shows that nothing is gained by cutting up the ocean in huge tacks. We should also note that in the last 7 days, Geronimo has covered 3,530 nautical miles (adding all the point-to-point distances together), which equates to an average of 504 sea miles a day for the week, at an average speed of 21.01 knots… The main measure of daily performance is now the distance to the longitude of Cape Leeuwin. With over 920 miles in hand over the record this morning, the 11-man crew can look forward with confidence to what lies ahead. But they all know that Orange made exceptional time through the Pacific and that the Atlantic can sometimes throw up insurmountable obstacles. The good thing about the figures is that they are indisputable and precise. What isn’t so good is that they can’t tell you anything reliable about the future… DAY 21 GERONIMO (Cap Gemini / Schneider Electric) 47°36S - 57°23E 542 nautical miles in 24 hours, at an average speed of 22.58 knots Distance to Cape Leeuwin: 2,280 nautical miles Lead over the current record: 927 nautical miles RECORD 40°14S - 38°26E 366 nautical miles in 24 hours, at an average of 15.25 knots Distance to Cape Leeuwin: 3,207 nautical miles Press Relations RIVACOM Régis Rassouli Tel : +33 (0) 2 98 43 21 50 regis@rivacom.fr Copyright © 1996-2004 - SEGEL.DE