GIANT ORANGE CAT TREADS GINGERLY DOWN THE NORTH SEA IN LIGHT WINDS

The maxi-catamaran Orange co-skippered by Bruno Peyron and Neal McDonald enters the fifth day of her attempt on the Round Britain and Ireland Record. After a night of rather speedy sailing, albeit in southerly winds preventing the boat from sailing a direct course, this morning the conditions have changed as Orange finds herself running downwind in light northerly winds. The boat is sailing long tacks, gibing from board reach to board reach, between the coasts of Denmark and Britain. What happens with the weather today is critical as far as the record is concerned.

On an audio conference call with skipper, Bruno Peyron earlier this morning, he said,

"We've just had a difficult night as we had to keep accelerating in strong winds and a breaking sea, the sort of conditions we are not that enamoured with. Thank goodness the sea lengthened in the middle of the night and we could increase our speed to between 17 and 18 knots full and sail a pretty good angle. Despite our best efforts, our lead of one hundred miles on the record was reduced yesterday, as we had to sail really long tacks against southerly winds. This morning though, conditions have changed completely as a northerly wind has kicked in and we are now on a square run in light winds (7 to 8 knots), so we have no choice but to do a lot of reaching to try and pick up the south east winds we are hoping for this afternoon. We are fully canvassed and are trying to find the best angle by anticipating the wind rotation. This morning we are tacking level to Edinburgh on the east coast of Scotland in one direction and level to Denmark when we tack in the other direction. Today will prove highly tactical and decisive for our record attempt.

The landscapes of Ireland and Scotland are spectacular. Two days ago we discovered the wild, windswept west coast of Ireland up to the stunning Shetland and the amazing bird reserves of St Kilda. Today we are on our way down the eats coast of Scotland, a different sight altogether with its cargo vessels and oil platforms. We've got to keep our eyes peeled! "

Orange is currently 314 nautical miles from Dover averaging speeds of 13.62 knots. They are approximately 8 hours ahead of the record as of 1122 (UK time) and need to maintain an average speed of 10 knots until the finish if they hope to break the record.

Reminder : to beat Steve Fossett's 1994 record, Orange has to cross the finish line (Isle of Wight - UK) before Sunday 18th August at 7h 4mn and 46 s.

Download high-definition copyright free images on from on board Orange on: http://ocftp.com/images/orange/

Listen to or download the day's radio chat session: http://ocftp.com/audio/orange_uk_1608a.mp3

Press Office Maxi-Catamaran Orange : Mer & Média
Bénédicte Etienne : Mob : +33/(0)6 07 08 24 57 - be.mer.media@wanadoo.fr
Copyright free Images TV:
APP / Richard Simmonds : +44 (0) 776 886 6371 - rsimmonds@appbroadcast.com
2P2L / Gérard Supau : +33/(0)6 07 42 57 92 - gsupau@wanadoo.fr