Olivier de Kersauson’s CapGemini / Schneider Electric sponsored trimaran Geronimo departed for Qatar for the start of Oryx Quest yesterday afternoon. The boat must arrive by January 26, 2005; the port of Doha is 6,200 miles distant from Geronimo’s base in Brest.

The course will take the crew past Gibraltar and into the Mediterranean, then into the Suez Canal to the Gulf of Aden, then through the Sea of Oman before entering the Persian Gulf.

Alongside Geronimo will be the power yacht Ocean Alchemy, which if need be will serve as a tugboat for the sailboat. “We have been in touch with Egyptian authorities about our crossing through the Suez Canal. At present we are classified as “pleasure” craft, which does not help our business situation, because that classification means we have to stop at night. Only cargo liners can sail at night. Instead of a day and a half passage, it could take three days or more, with all the risks that are involved in travelling through those zones,” explains Louis Noel Vivies.

The passage will take an estimated 23 to 25 days depending on the Suez passage time. The two boats should arrive at the northern entrance to the Canal in 10 days’ time. At Doha, Geronimo will be joined by the catamarans Qatar 2006 (ex-Club Med) of Brian Thompson, Tony Bullimore’s Daedalus and a fourth multihull will be announced soon.