Latest From the Global Match Race

Both Geronimo and Orange II are now on their second attempts of the Round the World Record for 2004, Geronimo was approaching the northwest corner of Spain, just 12 hours after the clock started ticking, and has now covered 495 miles in the First 24 hours

“A little bit slacker than forecast – sluggish even”, commented the skipper, who went on to add this about the following wind. “If there’s a knot extra wind, the boat makes an extra knot. There’s a direct relationship between the speed of the boat and the speed of the wind”. So weather conditions are a little less favourable than forecast and lack power. More importantly, the angle of the wind is not good for achieving maximum speed. The weather vane is set obstinately in the north or, occasionally, northeast, which means that the crew has to gybe regularly. “We have a fairly weak wind – it’s not very active. Not weak enough to shift direction and not strong enough to get us going really quickly,” added Olivier de KERSAUSON. The reality is that Geronimo is moving at exactly the same speed as the air, and remains just ahead of the more powerful switch to the northwest.

Orange II, who set off about nine hours after Geronimo, had similar conditions at the start. As Skipper and current holder of the Jules Verne Trophy, Bruno PEYRON commented. “It’s a beautiful start, under a beautiful light”.