At the end of day 9, Orange II is still blasting along at 22 kts towards the south in 20 knots of trade winds. Early this morning, the giant gained 10 degrees towards the east – and the direct route.

Today should be favourable, and the crew will probably be able to swallow precious miles. With the trade winds and the flat seas, the giant cat just flies over the surface of the water. Tomorrow, the wind should shift again to the north-east, allowing the crew to increase the sail area.

Bruno Peyron commented: “It shifted a bit to the left this morning, and we’re trying to keep going south. We could sail faster if we decided to take a more western route, but we prefer to keep our trajectory which will allow us to catch up on the next weather system tomorrow. We’re sailing upwind between 20 and 25 kts, and it’s quite a ride. Tomorrow, with the wind shift, we’ll be able to sail under full main, staysail and gennaker. After that, we’ll go through a transition zone, a narrow passage towards yet another system.

“Right now, the boat is literally flying above the small waves generated by the trade winds. We’re always sailing on ‘a hull and a half’, which optimises the speed and is a relief for the boat. Yesterday we had a magnificent sunrise under the windward hull. On board, the atmosphere is still great, and we don’t have any damage to report, except for a small tear in the staysail.”