Geronimo heads for the High

Day 12 was completed with 517 nautical miles on the clock, the second day of covering over 500 miles on her dash to the Southern Ocean. This performance put the 11-man crew around 90 nautical miles ahead of the current record at 23:18 last night.

The unusual weather configuration in the south Atlantic is still proving very costly in terms of distance to be covered by giving the French crew no choice but to skirt a very large high pressure region around its western edge. Since this morning, the problems of a longer route have been aggravated by a very significant drop in wind strength and reliability, as Geronimo attacks this high pressure area around its western extremity. The wind direction moved from east to northeast in the space of this morning, dropping to around 15 knots at the same time. It is forecast to switch back to the north by the end of the day, before giving way to northwesterlies tomorrow, if all goes well. After that, there is the threat of a new unusual weather pattern in the shape of a depression centred over Madagascar. This is forecast to move southwards, seriously disrupting weather systems that have been well-established until now and – worse still – threatening Geronimo with poorer sea conditions.

Having followed his progress all the way, the crew congratulate Jean Luc Van Den Heede on his superb new record. It proves that tenacity always triumphs over all risks eventually. Even when you’re going around the world the wrong way single-handed in a monohull.

Current Positions

2002 Record
25°48S – 33°41W
252.2 nautical miles in 24 hours, at an average of 10.5 knots