Sea, Sail & Surf newsJules Verne Trophy
It’s the last straight, the final sprint before a victorious finish.
samedi 4 mai 2002 –
"Time of arrival ? Between 0600 and midday perhaps..." difficult for Bruno Peyron to commit himself. "The finish of a race is so unpredictable" he said. But for the time being Orange is sailing fast, very fast. 24/25 knots on a direct heading, devouring 560 miles in a day on port tack, under full main and solent. They had a last setback yesterday, the big gennaker gave up the ghost in a big roar. "It made us worry about the mast" said Peyron, "because it literally exploded into shreds." So it is under solent in a good north-westerly that Orange is closing in on Brest Brest #brest and the finish. On board the watches succeed each other with strange serenity. "There’s huge concentration from the entire crew" described Bruno, "something that resembles distance, interiority, as if each one wants to keep his sentiments to himself. As far as I’m concerned, I’m beginning to feel a zest of nostalgia when I look at this narrow tube of carbon in which 13 men have lived in perfect harmony for 64 days...". But it isn’t time yet to draw conclusions, Orange is aiming to cross the line in the immediate vicinity of the old Ushant lighthouse where the judges of the World Sailing Speed Record Record #sailingrecord Council will be posted to immortalise the end of the adventure. "Visibility permitting, we will cross the line 2.5 miles off the light. In case of mist or dark, we have alerted the Stiff lighthouse keepers whose witness will be valid." The sea is calm and beating to the finish will not worry the maxi-catamaran too much. The final night is approaching. Orange is on her 63rd day at sea. At 0936 French time tomorrow Sunday she will start her 64th day.
Sunday May 5th, France will be voting, Nick Moloney will be celebrating his 33rd birthday, and Orange will be inscribing her name in the annals of the Jules Verne Trophy...
Quote / unquote...
Bruno Peyron : "This sail round the world will remain for all of us aboard Orange a passionate maritime experience, with its good and not so good moments. The Atlantic has been pure sliding joy. We will have sailed almost 28,000 miles, or almost 5,000 more than Kersauson in 97, and yet we will be improving the record Record #sailingrecord significantly. These new generation boats are astonishing."
Gilles Chiorri : "There’s no impatience aboard. I have just discovered a very nice collection of sea stories that I would like to finish aboard... we’ll be arriving tomorrow, Nick’s (Moloney) birthday, to whom we will be offering, for lack of a cake, our Australian flag..."
Denis van den Brink / Mer & Média agency Translated by David Palmer / SeaSpeak
Dans la même rubrique
Jules Verne Trophy : Orange is less than 1000 nm from Brittany
Jules Verne Trophy : Bruno Peyron : "In this Jules Verne, we’ll have tried it all !"
Jules Verne Trophy : Orange expected between Saturday and Monday
Jules Verne Trophy : Orange through the Azores high
