Fossett
Challenges - Cheyenne's Indian Ocean Record Safe
For The Year
But 2004 Rival Geronimo
Hot on RTW Tracks
Friday 26 March 2004
- 1739 GMT - 378 miles SE of Recife, Pernambuco,
Brasil, 827 miles S of the Equator: Speeding North
towards the Equator in increasing E/SE tradewinds,
Skipper Steve Fossett and crew aboard the 125'
maxi-catamaran Cheyenne have made 254 miles over
the past 12-1/2 hours, fully leaving behind the
light airs near Rio de Janeiro and can begin to
aim for home on their attempt on the official
Round the World Sailing record (target 64 days
8 hrs 37 mins 24 secs). Cheyenne's lead over the
pace of the current record-holder (Orange I, skippered
by Bruno Peyron in 2002) was 1215 miles this afternoon
- a useful margin of over 2-1/2 days.
19 days and an ocean
behind, 2004 rival Olivier de Kersauson and his
114' trimaran Geronimo are also ahead of Orange
I's 2002 record pace on their own RTW attempt,
having passed the longitude of Tasmania last night,
marking the end of the Indian Ocean and the beginning
of the Pacific.
Geronimo's time for
the passage from Cape of Good Hope, South Africa
to South East Cape at Tasmania, Australia (approx
10 days 19 hours) was almost one day slower than
the new Indian Ocean Record set by Cheyenne on
March 6 with a time of 9d 20h 29m 27s. But the
sigh of relief breathed by Steve Fossett and crew
at keeping their 3 week old record is tempered
by the knowledge that the fast running Geronimo
was only 549 miles behind Cheyenne's own blistering
earlier pace as the big French tri entered the
Pacific this morning.
With Geronimo continuing
to turn outstanding daily speeds, Fossett and
his team are thus driving for the finish line
aware that they might break the official WSSRC
(World Sailing Speed Record Council) RTW record
- only to have it broken again by Geronimo less
than 3 weeks later.
When queried on this
point tonight, Steve Fossett's reaction was: "That's
getting ahead of ourselves - we haven't finished
the Round the World, much less captured the record.
But if it happens, it happens - that's sport.
Our mission is to set the official Round the World
record. It would be icing on the cake to keep
the record until at least next year."
For
further details and regular position updates,
please see: www.fossettchallenge.com
