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Orange off again in Jules Verne

Orange: Take two after speedy repairs

BREST, France -- Bruno Peyron's maxi-catamaran Orange has crossed the starting line for the round-the-world Jules Verne Trophy -- two weeks after breaking her masthead during her first attempt.

Orange left the Multiplast boatyard in Vannes in France on Friday evening when Peyron was advised that the weather conditions looked good for a fast run to the equator.

There was a 25 to 30-knot north-northeast wind at the start with good visibility and a choppy sea. Orange was sailing with three reefs and a staysail.

To beat the record set in 1997 by Olivier de Kersauson on Sport Elec (71 days 14 hours 22 minutes), Peyron and his 12 crew must be back by two-and-a-half minutes before midnight on May 12.

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Peyron will cross the path of de Kersauson who is heading back to Brest after abandoning his own attempt in Geronimo, the world's largest trimaran, after a rudder failure off the coast of Brazil on Friday.

The question now is whether de Kersauson has time to make repairs and then start again before the end of March when it is considered too late to venture into the Southern Ocean.

Peyron was the first holder of the Jules Verne Trophy in 1993, sailing the 26 metre (85 ft) 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.

The Jules Verne race is an open challenge involving a non-stop dash round the world from the English Channel, round the Cape of Good Hope, through the seas around Antarctica, past Cape Horn and back to the English Channel.