Sea trials have been completed – again – by Olivier de Kersuason in his maxi trimaran Géronimo. The boat is, he says, ready to start on the first of her record attempts as soon as the right weather arrives.

Géronimo was damaged when a Figaro yacht collided with her in June, but after repairs to the starboard float de Kersauson’s crew have been out sailing widely in the North Atlantic. In the last few weeks, they have worked with meteorologist Pierre Lasnier to encounter as great a variety of conditions as possible and have sailed in 23 different weather systems, going as far north as 60°.

This has helped the team at sea and ashore to gauge the success of the trimaran’s new rudder blade, which was redesigned after problems earlier this year. Despite sailing so many miles, though, de Kersauson says they will have to wait for ‘more demanding conditions’ to complete tests.

That done, he hopes to leave in September to attempt the Round Britain and Ireland record. The current record of 5 days 21 hours 5 minutes was set in 1994 by Steve Fossett in the 60ft trimaran Lakota. In theory, the maxi tri should be well capable of slashing this time, but the 2,000 mile route is one of the hardest over which to find consistent favourable winds.