THE MAXI-CAT ORANGE ON COURSE TO CAPTURE ONE OF THE WORLD'S CLASSIC SAILING RECORD BECALMED JUST THREE MILES FROM THE FINISH LINE

One of the world's classic sailing records slipped away from the crew of Orange early this morning, as they found themselves becalmed 3 miles from the finish line off the Isle of Wight. The maxi-catamaran Orange, co-skippered by Bruno Peyron (France) and Neal McDonald (UK) crossed the finish line of their Round Britain and Ireland record attempt this morning at 0728, a little more than one hour short of the world record time set by Steve Fossett (5d 21h 5m) in 1994 on board Lakota.

Bruno Peyron said, "What a funny experience this Round Britain and Ireland record attempt has been. There were just a few miles left to go this morning and we were still ahead of the record averaging a speed of just 5 knots and then in the last few miles we were stuck in an unforgettable dead calm and there was nothing we could do about it. That's the way the cookie crumbles. The clock decides and we've got no choice but to accept it. But we'll be back! We felt more like we were taking part in a race than on a speed record attempt, because we had left without waiting for the best conditions. The Round Britain and Ireland Record is an amazing and somewhat difficult course, with some tricky and highly tactical bits to it. We've got a great team and I don't think we made many mistakes. We set out in what was supposed to be the quickest way round in view of the weather information we had and the analysis of Roger Nilson on board and Roger 'Clouds' Badham on terra firma in Australia. We gave it 100 % throughout, never taking our foot off the gas, except after the Shetland Islands, where the sea was very rough. Of course we are very disappointed to have missed the record by so little, but we have come up smiling anyway as we've had a great 5 days together."

When asked about his plans for the future Bruno said, "The most important thing for me is to continue our public awareness campaign to keep the public informed about big boats and racing. Everyone's been really enthusiastic and the suspense was intense. Very encouraging all round with the perspective of The Race 2004 ahead and the Giant multihull circuit which we are in the process of organising for the coming years. "

" What now ? I am staying in England for a few more days, then Orange will be heading back to the Mediterranean to continue her programme of record attempts, which include the Marseilles to Carthage and Round Corsica records.

FREE COPYRIGHTS TV IMAGES OF THE ARRIVAL AVAILABLE AT THE SERTE (PARIS):
Sunday 18th August : 11H00 / 11H15 (GMT time)

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_1808a.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