Geronimo, Olivier de Kersauson’s giant trimaran is still suffering from light airs as she heads north up the South American coast towards the Equator. While the conditions are far from what the 10-strong crew could have hoped for, it has allowed them to drop the mainsail and carry out repairs to the main track travellers which were beginning to show signs of wear.

Since rounding Cape Horn last Thursday, Geronimo has been the victim of a huge South Atlantic Anticyclone which has forced her to shadow the coast and sit in virtually windless conditions ever since. “We didn’t really have a choice.” Said de Kersauson, “The ideal route would be to go eastwards to look for a way round, which is less penalising in the south. But there’s no way. Unlike us, Orange was able to find one, as were Enza and Sport Elec before her. Nevertheless, when we were on Lyonnaise des Eaux, we couldn’t find an opening either. So we have no choice but to stick to the shortest route, even though the winds are not in our favour”.

Over the last 24 hours she covered 233.30 miles with an average speed of just 9.72knots. Unless things improve drastically over the next few days, Team Germonimo are going to have their work cut out if they are to break the record by crossing the Ushant finish line before 1136.33GMT on Sunday 16 March.