Fossett
Challenges - Another Good Run South As Cheyenne
Chalks Up 474 Miles Over Past 24 Hrs
News arrives that Orange II has returned to France
19 February 2004 1710 GMT - 1030 nm East of Porto
Allegre, Brazil: Skipper Steve Fossett and crew
aboard Cheyenne enjoyed another strong run at
over 20 kts due South through the day Thursday,
covering a total of 474 nm at an average of 19.75
kts over the past 24 hrs. Over the coming 'tactical'
1-2 days they will inject themselves into the
westerlies needed to carry them to Cape of Good
Hope.
Ken
Campbell of Commanders Weather related tonight:
" I just talked to Steve and Adrienne - The
next 36 hours will be tactically important as
the High is basically coming at us. Wind speeds
will come down and we'll see poor wind angles
- we'll need to be smart and set up tactically
for the new weather pattern - and say goodbye
to tropical winds and hello to the westerlies
around 38 degrees S."
In
a press release just received from our friends
and rivals on the maxi-catamaran Orange II, double
Jules Verne record-holder (1993, 2002) Skipper
Bruno Peyron announced that the 120' French cat
had suffered a 'technical incident' and was returning
to France, scarcely 24 hours after they crossed
the official RTW startline at Ouessant on Wednesday.
Orange II had terrific start conditions and covered
a formidable 580+ miles during the first 24 hours
of this attempt. The Press Release states:
Early
this morning (around 06:00 GMT / 07:00 local time),
as the boat was doing more than 30 knots, a technical
incident occurred onboard. After consulting his
crew, Bruno Peyron decided to turn back and head
for Brittany.
Bruno
Peyron :
"What happened does not allow us to continue
racing, and we're still close enough to home to
come back quickly, have this problem fixed, and
take another start. The real concern is that we
were sailing in exceptional sea and wind conditions,
downwind, and now we'll have to come back upwind
against 35 knots of breeze".
For
further details and regular position updates,
please see: www.fossettchallenge.com
