Bruno Peyron and his crew aboard the maxi cat Orange II are now back into the North Atlantic and have managed to clock up another three records – Equator to Equator, Ushant to the second Equator, and Equators via three great Capes.

They are still over nine days ahead of Steve Fossett’s record of 58 days and, having skipped through the doldrums without too much problem, are preparing themselves for the final attack up the Atlantic. But as Peyron points out it isn’t over yet, in fact, the least pleasant section is yet to come. There’s currently an anticyclone enveloping both Britain and France in a cold wave generating north-easterly headwinds down the course. Before reaching these upwind conditions, Peyron and team will have to cross through some rather mixed depressions and navigator, Roger Nilson will have his time cut out working out the tactics for the fastest route to the finish line.

Speaking from the boat this morning Peyron commented: “Through the doldrums we have managed to maintain a good speed throughout, by going where we wanted to go. There were obviously some squalls, but it was fairly predictable. As a result we didn’t have to make many sail changes; we chose the right configuration with the code zero and the trinquette. We simply had to furl it in and unfurl it again. “There haven’t been any developments in the situation in the North Atlantic. It’s not organised at all; there are some depressions which are very far south. It’s not going to very enjoyable. The hardest is behind us obviously, but the least pleasant is still ahead. It’s still a little early to speak about an ETA and anything could happen with the forecast ahead of us.”