Even though they slowed down a bit overnight in order to reduce the risks, Bruno Peyron and his men aboard the Orange II maxi catamaran are still sailing amazingly fast – with 631 miles covered at more than 26 knots of average speed over 24 hours.

After 21 days at sea, the crew will cross the longitude of Cape Leeuwin (SW Australia) tonight. They are now 1,899nm ahead of the absolute record and 1,870 nm ahead of the Jules Verne.

Chatting from the boat this morning Bruno Peyron said: “We said we’d try and be aggressive if we had the right conditions, but it’s not so easy. The seas are choppy, nights are totally dark and the helmsmen have a hard job maintaining the pace. During the day things are more agreeable yet it’s not an easy task, and at night we definitely have to ease off a bit, otherwise it would be too dangerous. Last night we tried to remain at roughly 20 – 22 knots of average speed, against the 27 knots we hold during the day.

“We’re still where we should be, even if the wind angles are not that great. We’re happy to sail downwind, but it’s a bit too westerly – yet we won’t complain, because in this area sometimes the lows can be tricky in terms of wind direction. Conditions are just good, not excellent. We’re able to maintain high average speeds without taking too many risks. We’re currently under 25 to 30 knots of breeze, the seas are very choppy, and we bump into the waves every half hour or so. We have to adapt our speed to the sea state.

“Our goal is to break new records when passing the longitude of Cape Leeuwin during the coming night. We have our sights set on three benchmark times (Ushant – Leeuwin, Equator – Leeuwin, and Good Hope – Leeuwin). The most difficult to catch is the third one, which implies the crossing of the Indian Ocean.

“The good news is that this ocean, arguably the most difficult part of our RTW journey, is almost behind us. But the Pacific, traditionally more peaceful, can also have a few bad surprises in store. We’re not at mid-course yet, even if today we have a four-day lead over the record. We’ll try and sail well, and make the most of what we have.”

Key figures

Day at sea: 21

Date: 02/14/2005

Time (GMT): 03:38

Latitude : 48 43.60 S

Longitude : 102 48.88 E

Instant speed: 30.4 kts

Instant heading: 62°

Avg speed: 26.5 kts

Avg speed over 24 hours: 26,3 kts

Distance over 24hours: 631 mn

Avg speed since the start: 22,6 knots

Distance covered: 11269 nm

Remaining distance: 13944 nm