Fossett Challenges - Cheyenne covers 457 nm past 24 hrs: 430+ NM Ahead Of Orange 2002 RTW Track

Tuesday 24 February 2004 - 0510 GMT - 601 nm SW of Cape Town: Despite the need to effect a major repair to re-attach the Forestay from midnight Sunday through Monday afternoon, Cheyenne and her crew covered 457 miles during Day 17 of their RTW sailing record attempt, averaging 19 kts as they continued E/SE.

Steve Fossett and team's current position (42 01S, 8 07E) keeps them approximately 430 - 450 nm ahead of the 2002 RTW record position of Bruno Peyron's Orange after 17 days, having lost 60 - 80 nm Monday while making repairs.

Steve Fossett commented on Monday night:
"Today has been a happy surprise. I thought for a while we were out of business, but we kept going. While under repair, at first we used just the Staysail, then later when we were more confident we put up the Blast Reacher. The repaired Forestay is supporting at original strength, although we can no longer put the Solent on the roller furler, so we'll need to hoist it now."

Position Report
Date: 24/02/2004
Time: 05h10 GMT
Latitude: 42 01.220 S
Longitude: 08 06.820 E
Avg Speed: 17.75 kts
Dist. to Finish: 15853.18 nm
Required Avg Speed: 13.95 kts

For further details and regular position updates, please see: www.fossettchallenge.com