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Orange bids for round-the-world record

Sailing trials over winter have been encouraging for Peyron

LONDON, England (CNN) -- French multihull skipper Bruno Peyron is making final preparations for an attempt on the Jules Verne Trophy in early February in the 33.5m (110ft) giant catamaran Orange.

Peyron was the first holder of the Jules Verne Trophy, the non-stop around the world sprint in 1993, sailing the 26m (85ft) catamaran Commodore Explorer in a total time of 76 days, 6 hours and 13 minutes, beginning and ending in Ushant on the west coast of France.

Olivier de Kersauson, the current Jules Verne Trophy holder, set a new record in 1997 of 71 days, 14 hours and 22 minutes with the 24m (75ft) trimaran Sport Elec.

The record speeds set by the ocean-going multihulls in the Jules Verne Trophy inspired Peyron to set up a dedicated round-the-world sailing race for any sailing craft. Simply called The Race, the event started on December 31 2000 and took the fleet from Barcelona back to Marseille by the five great capes.

The Record

New Zealander Grant Dalton sailing on Club Med cut the record down to 62 days, 6 hours and 56 minutes for the 27,407 mile course to win The Race.

However, the course of The Race, starting and finishing in two different Mediterranean ports, did not qualify for the officially recognised World Speed Sailing Record Council (WRSSC) record for sailing around the world. Even though the distance was far enough, the WRSSC rules require boats to start and finish across the same line.

Club Med was one of three 34m (110ft) Gilles Ollier-designed catamarans specially built for The Race by Multiplast in Vannes, Brittany.

Peyron has recently announced plans to run The Race again in 2004.

Continued sponsorship from France Telecom will allow Peyron the chance to get back on the water and reclaim the Jules Verne Trophy.

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France Telecom bought Orange in May 2000 and floated the company in February 2001. Orange is now one of the largest European mobile brands with 17 million users in 13 European countries.

Peyron has been preparing his catamaran Innovation Explorer during winter in La Ciotat, close to Marseille, for the Jules Verne attempt.

Sailing trails started on December 28 in La Ciotat and Orange is due to leave Marseille for Brest on January 22 where they will wait for a suitable weather window for the record attempt.

Peyron has reported that the trials have been very encouraging and is confident that Orange could be ready to set off from Brest as early as the 7th February.

There is a very good chance that there will be some added spice to the Jules Verne attempt this year with Peyron competing against the current record holder de Kersauson in his 34m (110ft) maxi trimaran Geronimo.

Peyron is the supreme ocean racing catamaran sailor and is clearly relishing the contest. "This will be the first true confrontation between two hulls and three hulls of this new generation of maxi multihulls," he said.

"We will have a match between the largest racing trimaran and catamaran in the world."