Orange II Transatlantic Record Bid--Looking Dubious: Bruno Peyron and his merry crew are still celebrating the fact that they are the first to sail more than 700 miles in a day (how long do you think it will take modern boats to start thinking about 800 miles? 3 years? 5 years? Never?). In fact, their math--which needs to be confirmed by the World Sailing Speed Record Council--now shows that they racked up an incredible 706 miles. But the great French sailor can't drink champagne yet. He's still trying to get his big cat across the Atlantic in record time, and it's not going to be easy. At the 0900 time check this morning, Peyron and Orange II had 777.7 miles to go, and only 30.25 hours to do it in. That will require an average speed of 25.7 knots. That's easily within this rocket ships capability...IF they have good winds. And right now they don't. The average for the past 24 hours is down around 22 knots. We'll see what comes, and you never know when ol' Neptune will smile on you. But I'd wager that if Peyron comes out of this run with only a 24-hour record he won't be too grumpy about it. The boat will have shown its potential, nothing major has broken so far, and his main aim is to go out this winter and win back the Jules Verne Trophy and snatch the round-the-world record from Fossett....


"Ok, Bruno. Enough singing of the Marseilles. We've got more than 700 miles of hard sailing ahead..."

Wednesday, August 25, 2004
Orange II Transatlantic Record Bid--Now, It's A Nailbiter!: I guess no one should ever count Bruno Peyron out. Since yesterday morning the French maestro has been sailing his monster cat flat out, through rough seas and building winds. He's piled up 634 miles in the last 24 hours, and at 0900GMT this morning he had just 148 miles to go, and 6.25 hours to get there. That requires an average of more than 23 knots, which puts it all down to the winds and wind angle. Peyron was forecasting a drop in wind pressure and they have to gybe south to get to the finish, so this thing is going to be a matter of minutes and miles. We'll know in a few hours, and I will post an update as soon as I get word. Damn, that boat is fast...


"Keep it rolling, Bruno! I can smell the croissants and espresso already..."

American Fossett's Trans Atlantic record was assumed to be so strong that it would be years before it would be toppled.

39 only? One of those French maxicats once hit 44!