On her third day at sea in pursuit of the Round Britain and Ireland record, Geronimo is now charging south towards Ireland, having rounded the Shetland Isles during the night. The giant Cap Gemini Ernst & Young and Schneider Electric trimaran is revelling in excellent sailing conditions and is well within the record time set by Steve Fossett (5 days, 21 hours, 5 minutes, 27 seconds).

Just a few hours after crossing through the calm centre of the depression now centred over northern Britain, Geronimo is back on song driven by winds of between 20 and 27 knots. The trimaran is now approaching Ireland, the latest test to be faced on this highly complex course.

“It looks as if we might have some calm weather off the south of Ireland, but compared to the very flat calms we had before reaching the Shetlands, the conditions should be good enough for us. As we’re sailing a triangular course, we have to manoeuvre the boat as we change heading. There’s a lot of gybing involved and many course marks to be negotiated, so I end up spending a lot of the day at the chart table,” says Olivier de Kersauson.

Geronimo has now covered a little over half the Round Britain & Ireland course. “We’re well within Steve Fossett’s record time. Even if we run into quieter weather nearer the finish line, we should beat the time set by Lakota,” explains the skipper.

To beat the record set by Steve Fossett in 1994, Geronimo must cross the finish line off the Lizard (which she left on Thursday afternoon) before 11:11:29 on Wednesday 11 September.