02.02.2005
Jules Verne Trophy 2005
Press Release N°14
Wednesday 2nd, February 2005
AGAINST THE SEA AND AGAINST THE WIND, ORANGE II IS MAKING 25 KNOTS IN THE BRAZILIAN TRADE WINDS
Orange II is continuing on her way due south off Brazil. She is aiming
for a narrow weather passage between Argentina and the island of
Tristan da Cunha. She should reach this zone within two days, and
meanwhile a day of great speed lies ahead for Bruno Peyron’s crew.
Averaging 22 knots, the maxi catamaran is benefiting from south
easterly trade winds for the moment. «We’re sailing against the sea and
the wind» explained Bruno Peyron on Wednesday afternoon, during the
live video link-up with the boat. «We’re beating upwind at 25 knots.
We’re pushing her on. We’re sailing in typical trade wind seas. The
weather is very fine, but Orange II is a fairly heavy boat with two
hulls, and finds it difficult to head into the waves, even if she does
better than the previous generation. So we’re wondering whether we
shouldn’t come around to 180° to pick up some speed, while putting less
strain on the boat.»
Bruno Peyron is going to have to keep up this pace over the next 24
hours and cover another 500 miles in one day. Then they will be drawing
near to the tricky area, where the wind will come around astern and
drop off, before a stronger new system from Argentina takes over. This
looks like being a very tricky situation for the boat’s strategists.
«We’re on a very fine line trying to find the way through this narrow
corridor to the south,» Bruno added. «We’re trying to keep up a fairly
high average speed to give us a small margin to reach this link to the
south. It’s a bit of a gamble, as there are no other ways through to
the west. If we indeed make it, the gain will be huge: if we manage to
do it, we’ll be 600 to 800 miles ahead.» A lot is therefore at stake.
If they succeed, Orange II could well gain an advantage of one or two
days over the absolute round the world record, before they reach the
deep south.
Bruno Peyron :
«On deck, it’s the daily routine. There are currently 8
men out on deck plus Roger Nilson and myself. At the moment, we’re
planning to hoist the solent, as the wind has eased off slightly. These
are always difficult manoeuvres. We made a slight mistake 3 days ago
and managed to rip the staysail a little bit. The sails are heavy, so
we don’t have many on board, and we have to pay attention and look
after the equipment, as it has to last all the way around the world.»
Day 9 : Wednesday 2nd February at 10.00 GMT
Position : 14 29.80' S - 28 40.00' W
Recorded speed: 21.1 knots
Recorded bearing: 186
Speed over 24 h : 21.9 knots
Distance over 24 h : 527 miles
Speed since the start: 20.1 knots
Total distance: 4352 miles
Reindexing distance : 20547.90 miles
Difference on Day 9 over
J.Verne record: +635 miles (ahead)
Absolute record: +555 miles (ahead)
Jules Verne Trophy 2005
Maxicatamaran Orange II
Wednesday 2nd February 2005 – 5 a.m. GMT
ORANGE II CONTINUES TO MAKE headWAY SOUTH
At the end of day 9, the giant Orange II is still gliding due south averaging 22 knots in 20-knot trade winds. Early this morning, the bearing came around ten degrees more to the east to allow the crew of Orange II to get closer to the direct route.
Today should be a fairly good day allowing them to grab another few miles over the record. The trade winds and flat calm seas enable the boat to fly above the water. Tomorrow, the wind is forecast to come around again to a north easterly allowing the crew of Orange II to hoist more canvas and get up more speed as she picks up more favourable winds. Philippe Péché handed over the watch to Yann Eliès this morning at 4 a.m. GMT. All is well on board.
Bruno Peyron : «The wind came around slightly this morning to a more favourable direction and we’re trying to get on a bearing closer to the south. That will enable us to get up some speed on a route further west, and this seems preferable to us, as it means we will be taking a short cut, allowing us to hop on to the next weather system tomorrow. We’re beating upwind at between 20 and 25 knots and things are picking up. We’re expecting the wind to come from further to the left tomorrow. Then, we’ll be able to accelerate and glide along under full sail with the indexsail, staysail and index gennaker. After this period tomorrow, it will be a little bit trickier as we cross a transition zone. If we want to reach the next weather system, we’ll have to get in exactly the right place, as the corridor isn’t very wide. At the moment, the boat is literally flying above the ripples generated by the trade wind. We’re gliding along on one and a half hulls all the time, which makes it easier for the boat and improves her speed. Yesterday we had a sunrise under the windward hull, which was absolutely splendid. On board, the atmosphere is still excellent. As for the odd jobs, we just had a catch in the staysail to deal with, and apart from that, the boat is in perfect condition. As usual, each crewman carries out his checks at the end of each watch. We’re still keeping an eye on the finish of the Vendée Globe, which is starting to become clearer. We had a chat with Jojo (Sébastien Josse) on the phone. We’ll call him again before he arrives back in Les Sables. The race is incredible and the finish is just fabulous. You can tell them that we’re too far away to congratulate them, but we’re thinking of them.»
Latest figures:
Day at sea: 9th
Date: Wednesday 2nd February 2005
Time (GMT) : 04h46
Latitude : 12 36.84' S
Longitude : 28 40.76' W
Recorded speed:19.2 knots
Recorded bearing: 172
Average speed: 23.1 knots
Speed over 24h : 22.1 knots
Distance over 24h : 530 nautical miles
Speed since the start: 20.1 knots
Total distance: 4239 nautical miles
Reindexing distance: 20660.80 nautical miles
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