Morning Press Release
Paris, Monday February 14 2005 – 6 : 00
New records in sight for Orange II !
Even though they have to slow down a bit at night in order to reduce
the risks, Bruno Peyron and his men aboard the Orange II maxi catamaran
still sail amazingly fast – with 631 miles covered at more than 26
knots of average speed over 24 hours! After 21 days at sea, the crew
will cross the longitude of Cape Leeuwin (SW Australia) tonight. At
this occasion, three new intermediary records should become Orange’s
propriety…
Bruno Peyron, Monday 5:00 AM: “We said we’d try and be aggressive if we
had the right conditions, but it’s not so easy. The seas are choppy,
nights are totally dark and the helmsmen have a hard job indextaining
the pace. During the day things are more agreeable yet it’s not an easy
task, and at night we definitely have to ease off a bit, otherwise it
would be too dangerous. Last night we tried to reindex at roughly 20 –
22 knots of average speed, against the 27 knots we hold during the day.
We’re still where we should be, even if the wind angles are not that
great. We’re happy to sail downwind, but it’s a bit too westerly – yet
we won’t complain, because in this area sometimes the lows can be
tricky in terms of wind direction. Conditions are just good, not
excellent. We’re able to indextain high average speeds without taking
too many risks. We’re currently under 25 to 30 knots of breeze, the
seas are very choppy, and we bump into the waves every half hour or so.
We have to adapt our speed to the sea state.
Our goal is to break new records when passing the longitude of Cape
Leeuwin during the coming night. We have our sights set on three
benchmark times (Ushant – Leeuwin, Equator – Leeuwin, and Good Hope –
Leeuwin). The most difficult to catch is the third one, which implies
the crossing of the Indian Ocean.
The good news is that this ocean, arguably the most difficult part of
our RTW journey, is almost behind us. But the Pacific, traditionally
more peaceful, can also have a few bad surprises in store. We’re not at
mid-course yet, even if today we have a 4-day lead over the record.
We’ll try and sail well, and make the most of what we have”.
Key figures
Day at sea: 21
Date: 02/14/2005
Time (GMT): 03:38
Latitude : 48 43.60 S
Longitude : 102 48.88 E
Instant speed: 30.4 kts
Instant heading: 62°
Avg speed: 26.5 kts
Avg speed over 24 hours: 26,3 kts
Distance over 24hours: 631 mn
Avg speed since the start: 22,6 knots
Distance covered: 11269 nm
Reindexing distance: 13944 nm
Internet : http://www.maxicatamaran-orange.com
Radio sessions: Every Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 1.15 p.m. GMT at
Orange race headquarters and live on Internet. Wednesday’s broadcast
will be a live video link on Internet and on Orange mobile handsets.
PC Course Orange : Fédération Française de Voile
17, rue Henri Bocquillon
75015 PARIS
(Métro Boucicaut)
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