ORANGE 2 in April 2005: 50 days, 16 hours, 20 minutes and 4 seconds

Description

On January 24, 2005, at 11:03:07 local time, the maxi catamaran Orange II crossed the starting line, an imaginary line drawn between Ushant and Lizard Point. 2005 marked the centenary of Jules Verne's death. Orange II is a racing machine, designed for long-distance speed: 36.80 meters long, 18 meters wide, with high, streamlined hulls perfect for slicing through waves, and a 45-meter wing mast for 1100 square meters of sail area downwind. “Orange II represents the culmination of everything we’ve learned about large racing boats over the past ten years,” summarizes Gilles Ollier, one of the catamaran’s designers. Orange II was designed by Gilles Ollier and built at the Multiplast shipyard in Vannes. “The knowledge we’ve acquired would allow us to build the hull of a 60-meter boat, twice as long as this one, but the equipment must keep pace, and the crew must remain in complete control.” Orange II’s mainsail weighs 600 kilos, and the force on the mainsheet is 22 tons. Bruno Peyron knows his boat is very large, very heavy, and has a large sail area. “You must always maintain complete awareness of the power potential you have at your disposal,” he believes. The fourteen crew members rounded Cape Horn on a dark night, February 26, at 11:32 PM (GMT), and shattered all the intermediate times in the process: Ushant to Cape Horn in 32 days, 13 hours, and 29 minutes; Tasmania to Cape Horn in 8 days, 18 hours, and 6 minutes; Cape of Good Hope to Cape Horn in 18 days, 8 hours, and 8 minutes; Cape Leeuwin to Cape Horn in 10 days, 23 hours, and 35 minutes. Total: 50 days, 16 hours, 20 minutes, and 4 seconds. Kersauson publicly congratulated his competitor on his achievement and shared his pride: “The fifty-day mark is now within reach. No other motorsport can boast such progress, with each generation of boats pushing the limits even further. Bruno Peyron has just written, for the third time, a magnificent chapter in this Jules Verne Trophy, which remains the absolute benchmark for human and technical commitment.”