Monday 3rd July 2006. – Bruno Peyron’s crew covered 752 miles on their first day! No sailboat has ever been so fast until now. Having set out at 11h00’06 GMT on
Sunday from New York to attempt to snatch the incredible Atlantic record from
Steve Fossett (4 days, 17 hours 28 minutes and 6 seconds), Bruno Peyron’s crew
has already achieved something on this voyage. Orange II has just demolished
their own 24-hour sailing record by covering 752 miles in one day. This is already
something that will enter the history books and it may just be the start. At
a mind-blowing average speed of 31.3 knots, the maxi catamaran is ahead of where
PlayStation was on the charts. No sailboat has ever sailed more quickly over
24h…
Living up to her good habits, Orange II is sailing much
faster than the wind. Setting out from New York, Bruno Peyron’s crew have already
accomplished one historic victory: at 11h 06 GMT today (Monday) the maxi catamaran
setting out to conquer the Atlantic record had already clocked up a monumental
distance on the log: 752 miles covered in 24 hours: a new outright speed record
for a sailboat over one day. An average speed of almost 31.3 knots, obviously
reaching peaks in excess of 35 knots.
"It’s quite impressive, as we’ve once again found a greater potential in
the boat", commented a quite calm Bruno Peyron during the 09hOO GMT radio
session, as the Orange II monster was approaching the Newfoundland Banks, in
precisely the weather conditions that you can expect in this desolate region
of the North Atlantic: thick mist and crossed seas. "It’s a real pea-souper.
We can’t make out the bows of the boat and we’re on permanent radar alert to
avoid any fishing boats that may lie in our path." Under the small gennaker
and two reefs in the mainsail, Orange II is diving into the fog attacking the
tough record set by Steve Fossett’s PlayStation. This time considered to be unbeatable
by many was set in October 2001 by the American billionaire: 4 days, 17 hours,
28 minutes and 6 seconds.
123 miles ahead of PlayStation . In order to beat the legendary Atlantic record, they will have to cross the finishing
line off The Lizard at the southwestern tip of Britain by 04h27 GMT on Friday
morning. For the moment, Bruno Peyron’s crew is ahead of where they need to be
to grab the record. At the first comparison point this morning, Orange II had
a lead of 123 miles over PlayStation’s record run. "Since the start, there
have been strong conditions continually averaging more than 31 knots and with
flat calm seas allowing the helmsmen to get used to things in ideal conditions," commented
Bruno Peyron. "We’ve exactly the conditions we were expecting with a south
westerly flow and a good angle to the fine 25 to 30 knot wind, which is positive
in terms of sheer speed. Although the sea became a little less comfortable this
morning with 1.5 to 2 metre high waves on the beam, for the time being that isn’t
slowing us down," the French yachtsman was pleased to announce, in a tone
clearly showing how satisfied he was with the performance of the other eleven
men making up the crew, including Bernard Stamm, Yann Guichard and Pascal Bidégorry … "They’re
doing a fine job. They’re going very fast!"
Going fast is of course the obsession in this crazy sprint against the clock
across the North Atlantic, which has already seen them smashing one record. What
about tomorrow? "The day should be a little bit better, as we won’t need
to go out of our way, as we had to do today to get around the Nantucket Banks," explained
the skipper of Orange II. Pushing back still further this new barrier is therefore
not impossible. "Up until now, we’ve had our work cut out: we had to carry
out eight manoeuvres, with changes of sail. With twelve men it’s physically exhausting
and we’re only working using two watches. Each team must therefore wake up the
other when it’s time to carry out some work, as there is no watch on stand by,
as there was for the circumnavigation."
The fear of being slowed down at the end of the journey (as happened in August
2004, when the crew failed by 31 miserable minutes) still haunts them. "There
is always this uncertainty when you set sail on summer lows," explained
Bruno Peyron. "In fact, the weather forecasts do not agree: for some the
high pressure areas, which are giving fine weather over the continent at the
moment, will block the path of the lows; for others, these lows will get through
nevertheless. I think… I hope that we have enough speed to cope with the first
possibility and we’ve obviously been working with that less favourable option
in mind. If the second scenario arises, it will be something of a miracle." A " miracle " which
would allow them to win one of the greatest jackpots in the history of sailing.
But let’s not get ahead of ourselves. At 12h 30 GMT today there were still 2080
miles to cover to get within reach of this legendary record that has only been
smashed seven times in a century.
“What they said” : Roger Nilson, navigator on board Orange II : “Everything is
fine on board… until now there haven’t been any problems with the equipment or
the men. Since we got close to Sable Island there has been thick fog. The seas
are still calm, but some crossed waves are arriving from the south. We went 9
miles south of Sable Island and are on a bearing of 75°, with an average
speed for the boat of 32 knots under the breeze gennaker, which is very efficient.
We took in two reefs just before the island, as the wind got up to 34 knots.
The latest wind charts indicate that we are likely to be sailing on the starboard
tack right up to the end, with perhaps one small gybe. Approximately 4 days and
8 hours… in theory… We’re sailing in general 3 or 4° above the polar angle.”
History of the North Atlantic record. The first record on this route was set by Charlie Barr, the captain of the Atlantic
schooner. The proud vessel managed to complete the crossing in 1905 in 12 days
and 4 hours, a time that was to remain the record for 75 years. In 1980, Eric
Tabarly and his foiler Paul Ricard improved on Barr’s performance by two days,
crossing the Atlantic at an average speed of 11.93 knots. Following that, the
attempts and improvements came at a steady pace. The record would gradually be
improved upon by the French expert multihull racers: Marc Pajot, Patrick Morvan,
Loïc Caradec, Philippe Poupon and finally Serge Madec… On board Jet Services
V (the future Commodore Explorer), he was to set a record (6 days, 13 hours and
3 minutes) in 1990 that was to last 11 years. We had to wait for the right moment
and Steve Fossett’s attempt to see the record fall: on 10th October 2001, PlayStation
set the historic record of 4 days, 17 hours, 28 minutes and 6 seconds. Since
then, only Bruno Peyron has made an attempt at the record. Holder of the single-handed
Atlantic record on two occasions, the skipper of Orange II has not yet managed
to improve on this crewed record. We should add that on his last attempt back
in August 2004, he missed out on the record by a whisker (just 31 minutes).
Reminder: the North Atlantic crewed record. – Route: New York / The Lizard (south western tip of Great Britain)
– Current record: Steve Fossett / giant catamaran PlayStation / 10th October
2001
– Record time to beat: 4 days, 17 hours, 28 minutes and 06 seconds
– Average speed during the crossing: 25.78 knots
Bruno Peyron’s achievements
The 1st yachtsman to sail around the world in less than 80 days (Jules Verne
Trophy 1993), Bruno Peyron is the only yachtsman to have beaten this circumnavigation
record three times. Founder of The Race (first race around the world with no
limits 2000 / 2001), he is the record holder of the greatest number of miles
covered in a ocean racing maxi-catamaran (330,000 miles).
Some extracts from his list of successes:
– 3 times record holder of the crewed round the world record (1993, 2002 and
2005)
– Twice record holder of the single-handed Atlantic crossing (1987 and 1992)
– Twice record holder of the crewed transpacific record (1997 & 1998)
– 4 times record holder of the 24 hour record (1982 / 1995 / 2000 / 2004)
– Record holder for the Mediterranean crossing (2002)
– Twice awarded the Golden Neptune Award (Neptune d’Or) (1987 & 1993)
– 24 ocean records and 37 ocean crossings
– More than 400,000 miles covered around the world’s oceans.