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Orange damaged in rough seas

Repairs to the bulkheads took 20 hours in rough conditions

LONDON, England -- In a bid to beat the round-the-world record, the catamaran Orange has suffered structural damage.

As it crossed the half-way point of the Jules Verne race a few days ago, skipper Bruno Peyron said the aft beam was damaged and two bulkheads had cracked as a result of the powerful slamming of the waves.

"In fact the honeycomb core had collapsed due to the slamming of the waves," crewman Philippe Péché said.

"Then, the inner and outer skins started to peel and little fibres of carbon were even beginning to hang from the outside of the beam. But thankfully it wasn't too serious because we noticed the problem in time, but it's clear, if we hadn't noticed it, it could have become much more serious."

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Peyron added: "It must have happened when we were pushing a bit too hard in the confused seas on the continental shelf to the south of Africa and beating just before the Kerguelen Islands."

Onboard composite repair specialist Yves Le Blevec took 20 hours to make the repairs as the multihull continued in rough seas.

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.

Orange set a new record between the start line at Ushant and the latitude of Cape Leeuwin, Australia, of 29 days 07 hours and 22 minutes.

They beat the previous record set by Sir Peter Blake and Sir Robin Knox-Johnston on Enza in 1993 by 8 hours and 39 minutes.

"We'll have to keep an eye on the weakened zone, and lift our foot off a bit until we feel comfortable with it.' Peyron wrote in an email.

Orange currently has slightly more than a one-day lead over the current 71 day 14 hour Jules Verne Trophy record set by Sport Elec in 1997.

Peyron is hoping the Pacific Ocean will allow the crew "to exploit the boat's potential more fully."