Olivier de Kersauson’s Cap Gemini and Schneider Electric giant trimaran Geronimo had reached the coast of Morocco earlier today covering a total 432 nautical miles in the first 24 hours at an average speed of 18.03 knots.

It hasn’t taken Olivier de Kersauson and his crew long to reach the African coast and get a taste of temperatures rather more pleasant than those in northern Europe. Geronimo is currently enjoying between 17 and 23 knots of north-easterly wind under sunny skies.

Talking about the Route of Discovery challenge, De Kersauson said: “The start was a bit frantic, thanks to dozens of fishing boats working off Cadiz. Geronimo set off in 30 knots of wind and the fishermen must have been asking themselves what we were doing there… The crew is really on the case. The manoeuvres have been magnificent right from the start.”