Bruno Peyron and his 14-man crew aboard the 120ft catamaran Orange 2 have covered 494 miles in 18 hours at 27.5 knots of average speed.

Team Orange set off yesterday on their quest to break the non-stop fully crewed round the world record for the Jules Verne, and data received from the boat yesterday afternoon showed at times 29 knots of average speed over half an hour, and instant speeds of almost 35 knots.

Cape Finisterre (Spain) was rounded in the middle of the night, and Orange 2 is now already off the Portuguese coast. The maxi-catamaran skippered by Bruno Peyron still benefits from north-easterly winds blowing at 20 knots, generated by the high pressure cell located over Ireland.

Chatting from the boat Peyron said: “It’s been rather fast since our start, our speed oscillating between 28 and 35 knots. The route is quite complex, and the weather conditions we encounter are different from what we had on our files prior to the start – going towards the Canary Islands will not be as simple as it had seemed. But the weather’s been great, and sailing under the moon at 30-35 knots was just magnificent.”