Olivier de Kersauson’s trimaran Geronimo which is attempting to break the current Jules Verne circumnavigation record is still ahead of schedule on the approach to the Equator but light winds 350 miles from the Equator are beginning affecting her overall record performance.

Just one week after crossing the start line at Ushant, the Cap Gemini Ernst & Young – Schneider Electric team has clocked up a average speed of 18 knots and has covered 2,785 miles but whether 11 days, 4 hours leg to the Southern Hemisphere record can be broken, depends on the weather conditions they encounter in the next few hours along the African coast. “We will have to be patient,” said de Kersauson in a radio bulletin. Once across th Equator into the Southern Hemisphere she’ll be aiming to pick up the southern trade winds.

“We’ve had virtually no wind since we passed the Cape Verde islands”, says Olivier de Kersauson. “It’s never risen above 18 or 19 knots. Even then, it’s coming from behind us and right on our heading. We’ve been manoeuvring the boat all night. We haven’t stopped!”