Bruno Peyron and his 14-man crew aboard the giant cat Orange 2 are continuing their rapid progress south down the Atlantic and have now covered 1,040 miles in less than 48 hours of sailing. By staying on the edge of a huge area of high pressure (centred to the west of Ireland) they’ve been able to achieve an average speed of 24.8kts since the start on Monday.

At 0400 this morning Team Orange 2 was off the coast of Morocco gliding between a small secondary area of high pressure and the African coast, on a route, which is a long way east of the usual one taken in the trade winds (north-easterlies). However, the maxi-catamaran skippered by Bruno Peyron is coping remarkably well in a north-north-easterly wind, which is falling off at times to less than 15 knots.

Chatting from the boat Peyron said: “Things are going well considering the weather conditions, which are different from what we expected. There aren’t any trade winds blowing and the high is trying to eat us alive. We’re sailing in a wind around 14 knots, which is forecast to ease off still further off the coast of the Canaries. For the first day, however, we probably achieved the fastest day in the history of the Jules Verne Trophy, and we are already ahead of Steve Fossett. We’re pleasantly surprised by the potential of the boat, which is going faster than we expected!”