At 0216 GMT this morning (21 March) Orange, Bruno Peyron’s maxi cat, currently challenging for the Jules Verne, broke the Ushant to Cape of Good Hope record.

After 18 days, 18 hours and 40 minutes at sea, Team Orange beat the 1994 record of 19 days, 17 hours and 53 minutes record which was held by Sir Peter Blake sailing ENZA.

They are now 38 degrees south (about one third of the way around the world) and preparing for big winds and nasty conditions ahead. Nick Moloney commented from the boat this morning: “We should be sailing in 40 kts tonight. We are awaiting the wind to shift left a little more then we will gybe onto a course that will place us deeper south. There’s a fine line – the closer you skirt Antarctica, the shorter the distance to Cape Horn. But there is a lot of ice about and we hope to minimise the risk of a possible collision for as long as possible.

“We have been sleeping and eating well and all feel pretty good. However, the comfort level should change dramatically over the next few days as the ride gets wetter and the sea and air temperature get colder.”