www.orange.fr
Press Release N° 36
Paris, Wenesday 2nd March 2005
JULES VERNE TROPHY 2005
CHECK-UP ON THURSDAY, THREE DAYS BEFORE THE EQUATOR
The 14-man crew of Orange II have replaced their warm clothes with T-shirts. The temperature has soared just like the two hulls of the catamaran, as she heads towards the north eastern horn of Brazil. On the point of reaching a transition zone, Bruno Peyron is getting ready to carry out a complete check-up of the boat on Thursday, when the wind should be easing off.
«At the moment, it's the watch with Yann, Ludo, Yves and Florent,» Bruno Peyron explained to us this afternoon during the live video link-up. «We've just done some work on the sails to fit some shaped battens to the foresails for upwind sailing. Yann is at the helm in a 10-12 knot wind that is fading away. During the night, we went from one reef and the medium gennaker to full indexsail and code zero. We have to keep the speed up, and ensure the boat is ready to tackle some upwind conditions in a couple of days.» Climbing up in the north easterly trades will be the next leg of the journey for Orange II on her way to the Equator. Peyron has already got his machine ready to head into the wind for this change in the weather conditions.
«The weather today is quite different from what we had in the south. Yet, that wasn't so long ago. Just four days in fact, and we were in fleeces and oilskins. The wind has really eased off. Up until now, we have been lucky enough to stay with the same weather system ever since the Indian Ocean. This low, which moved up with us to the Falklands is in the process of leaving us, as we move into a transition zone. That is slowing us down, and tomorrow, we'll even come to a halt. We're going to take advantage of that to give a complete check-up to the mast and sails, and we'll even try to patch up the rudder with Yves, Bernard and Nicolas.»
The time is coming for the complete check-up of the boat, which was postponed after rounding the Horn. To benefit as much as possible from the favourable winds, Bruno Peyron put off this technical pit stop. The collision with a whale this weekend could have led him to do this sooner, but the damaged rudder was not showing any signs of weakness. This will be a chance to take a closer look at that damage. «Apparently, the rudder has not suffered too much from the collision, and as far as the vibrating is concerned, that seems to have quietened down, now it's back in the water, as the catamaran is now sailing on the starboard tack. That's logical, as the whole rudder is in one homogenous element. When we were on the other tack, it was going from the air to the water, like the hull on the windward side. From a structural point of view, Yves says it's not moving, but it's nevertheless worth taking a look to check.»
Everything is already prepared and laid out to carry out a service before the North Atlantic. «Our specialists in stratification are Yves Le Blévec, Bernard Stamm and Nico de Castro and they will be the ones deciding on what to do. Depending on what they require, we'll get the boat ready for them. Ideally, we would be looking for a flat calm sea, while another team looks after the rigging. But I'm afraid we won't be getting such perfect conditions, as here, we're at the end of the trade winds and there are always seas coming straight at you.»
After parking up at this "service centre," Orange II will then try to reach the Equator as quickly as possible, before the home run to Ushant. The giant looks like crossing the Equator on the evening of 6th February.
Concerning the whales: Concerning our collision with a small cetacean, please understand that no-one loves nature more than a sailor, whether we're talking about fishermen or ocean racers like us, as we have chosen to live in this environment. What happens when man wonders around the natural world with his technology, like a car for example, and an animal suddenly steps out in front at the same time' It's a fluke encounter. As for sea creatures, they are in their home, and they have some incredible listening and observation capabilities. The real question is why we don't hit them more often. It's like cars, which rarely run into birds. They have what it takes to avoid the accident, but unfortunately, from time to time, a bird hits the windscreen. It's just one of those things, and no-one is to blame. So, it's important to reassure children that sailors are the greatest lovers of the sea.
Concerning Steve Fossett: You can have a difference of opinion with other people and still have respect for them. We've known each other now for 7 or 8 years. We had a conflict over the Transpac and during the preparation of The Race. He is someone quite exceptional, as he has been trying for years to do things that nobody else has done. We are all specialists in one particular area. What he does is rather like if tomorrow we were to become car, plane or balloon racing experts. Each time he tries something new, he succeeds. He is lucky enough to have the finances to do this, but that doesn't explain it all. I remember that just as we were about to smash his Pacific record, crossing the finishing line under the Golden Gate, he fell from the skies with his balloon on fire. You have to have respect for this character.
Concerning the 10-day lead: When we talk about last year's record, we always thought that it would stand for ten years. This year, we were spoilt by the weather conditions. That means that today we are almost ten days ahead, while just two months ago, that would have seemed unthinkable. That isn't something that just happens. Orange II is the fruit of 15 years of hard labour. The first catamarans in The Race were used as models to develop her. After that, there was the rigorous preparation carried out by the shore team behind Yves le Blévec. If we haven't broken anything on board a 30-tonne boat, which has sailed around the planet averaging 25 knots, it';s not by chance. There is also an excellent weather crew, which is exactly what I wanted. To win, everything has to come together, and not winning can simply be due to one element not working.
Data
Day 37
Latitude : 23 25.88' S
Longitude : 38 03.88' W
Speed over 24h : 22.4 knots
Distance over 24h : 537 nm
Speed since the start: 23.9 knots
Total distance: 21215 nm
Reindexing distance: 4799.80 nm
Lead on day 37:
- J.Verne record: +4056 nm (ahead)
- Absolute record: +3176 nm (ahead)
Website: 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.
Orange Race headquarters: Fédération Française de Voile
17, rue Henri Bocquillon
75015 PARIS
(Métro Boucicaut)
Audio: Apart from the radio session three times a week, an audio recording is made every morning at 5 a.m. with the boat.
These recordings can be heard and downloaded in MP3 format in the press section of the website: www.maxicatamaran-orange.com
For any individual requests, please contact Bénédicte Etienne on 06 87 30 12 83
Boat's positions:
The position of the boat is updated every quarter of an hour on the website: www.maxicatamaran-orange.com
The records Orange II has to beat
- The Jules Verne Trophy, held since 29th April 2004, by Olivier de Kersauson and the crew of the trimaran Geronimo, in 63d, 13h 59mn.
- The absolute round the world record held since 5th April 2004, by the American Steve Fossett, in 58d, 09h, 32mn.
Orange II's latest records
- The world 24 h record (706.2 miles covered at an average of 29.42 knots) - August 2004.
- The Mediterranean record (17h, 56 mins and 13s, at an average of 25.53 knots) - September 2004.
- The Record between Ushant and the Cape of Good Hope (14 days, 8h and 19 mins) - February 2005.
- The Record between the Equator and the Cape of Good Hope (7days, 5h, and 22mins) - February 2005.
- The Record between the Cape of Good Hope and Cape Leeuwin (7 days, 5 hours and 35 minutes) - February 2005.
- The Record between Ushant and Cape Leeuwin (21 days 13 hours and 54 minutes) - February 2005.
- The Record between the Equator and Cape Leeuwin (14 days and 11 hours) - February 2005.
- The Record between Cape Leeuwin and Cape Horn (10 days 23 hours 35 minutes)
- The Record between Tasmania and Cape Horn (8 days 18 hours 06 minutes)
About Orange ...
Orange, a subsidiary of France Telecom, is one of the global leaders in mobile telephony. Orange France is the leading operator in mobile telecommunications in France with a market share of 47.7% and more than 21.3 million clients on 31st December 2004..
Official partners : Orange, France Telecom
Institutional partners: Ville de Marseille , Comunauté urbaine Marseille Provence Métropole
Official suppliers : TD Com, International Peinture, Henri Lloyd, UKHO, Lomac , Yamaha, Nera, Valderas Consulting, Telemar Scandinavia, Aramid Rigging, Southern Spars.
Copyright-free pictures (for press purposes) :
View online pho to library
Official photograph maxi-catamaran Orange :
Gilles Martin-Raget +33/(0)6 07 55 45 85 - gmr@martin-raget.com
Video production maxi-catamaran Orange :
Arnaud de Belinay : +33/(0)6 84 84 14 71 - debelinay@therace.org
Press Contact Maxi-Catamaran Orange :
Bénédicte Etienne - C Sports Communication : +33/(0)6 87 30 12 83 - benedicte.etienne@csports.fr
Pierre Giboire - Agence Mer & Média - pierre.giboire@wanadoo.fr
Press Contact France Télécom / Orange :
Sébastien Goalès - France Télécom : +33/(0)1 44 44 93 93 - sebastien.goales@francetelecom.com
Marie-Cécile Leprat - C Sprts Communication : +33/(0)1 58 47 84 58 - mc.leprat@csports.fr
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