Having spent the last couple of days tackling a tricky wind system, Steve Fossett’s 125ft catamaran finally broke through the low-pressure ridge last night and is back up to speed again.

The plan last night, while they were making 17.5 kts eastbound on a port tack, was to switch course to the north-north-west and follow the shifting wind. Fossett commented: “We are now free of that complicated weather pattern, but with a loss of a day on our projected schedule. We will now tack upwind for a day to reach the Tradewinds, then hopefully have a fast track to the Doldrums – our next problem area.”

The lead over Orange’s 2002 RTW pace is now estimated at around 920 plus miles. Their current position is 22 04.325 S, 32 27.621 W.

While Cheyenne, has spent the last few days struggling to maintain speed, Olivier de Kersauson’s 110ft trimaran Geronimo is revelling in the superb conditions and is really clocking up the miles.

On the 28th day of her round-the-world record attempt, on the approach to Tasmania, she averaged over 23kts point-to-point and covered 555.22 nautical miles.

Their current position is 53°09 S 141°13 E.