Big Beachcats [1]: Bruno Peyron and Orange II Set to Attempt Transatlantic Record [2]

Posted by : damonAdmin on Jun 06, 2006 - 12:34 AM
SailingNews [3]
Bruno Peyron, skipper of Orange II [4]
  1. French adventurer Bruno Peyron is on standby for the "window of opportunity" to break American Steve Orange II set to attempt the trans-atlantic record. [5]Fossett's North Atlantic crossing record (from New York to The Lizard, in England)
    • Fossett's record is 4 days, 17h, 28 minutes and 06 seconds. (established in 2001)
    • By comparison, a cruise ship takes 6 days to make the 3100 nautical mile Transatlantic voyage
    • Only Peyron has tackled this record since Fawcett's '01 accomplishment; in 2004, he missed the record by a mere 31 minutes
  2. Peyron will use as his weapon the giant maxi-catamaran Orange II
    • The boat is longer (121 ft.) and nearly as wide (59 ft.) as a tennis court
    • It stands, with its rotating wing mast, as tall as the Arc de Triomphe
    • It sails downwind with 5X more sail area than a Volvo Open 70
  3. The best weather would be a low pressure system, with constant wind at 27-35 knots (and no waves), that Orange II could ride -- without interruption -- across the entire ocean
    • To beat Fossett's record, a boat speed average of 26 knots must be maintained at all times
    • Peyron holds the 24-hour speed record (established in 2004) aboard Orange II, having averaged 29.42 knots.
    • Peyron holds the around-the-world speed record (established in 2005) aboard Orange II (50 d, 16 h, 20 min, 4 sec, established in 2005)
    • Orange II has been designed in such a way that it "flies a hull" in only 14 knots of wind
    • Upwind in a 20-knot wind, Orange II sails along briskly at above 20 knots. In those conditions, the deck (and crew abovedecks) is exposed to the equivalent of a 40-knot apparent wind.
  4. Peyron is in France, due back in Newport the week of June 12.
    • Orange II is at the Newport Shipyard, ready to go
    • Peyron currently is in "Code Red" standby mode. Code Red: No potential start within 7 days (no obvious weather window in sight) Code Orange: Potential start within 6 days (crew is alerted) Code Green: Potential start within 48 hours (crew is on the way to Newport)
    • It will take Orange II approximately 10 hours to get to its New York starting point (Ambrose Light) for the record attempt.
    • Orange II is sponsored by the global integrated operator France Telecom, which announced last week that it is uniting all of its commercial offers under the Orange brand.