Sometimes, in order to comment on a great achievement you can choose words like "staggering", "amazing", "breathtaking" and so on. But once in a while, something really stands out, and what you really want to say is that it kicks some serious butt. Well, that's the emotional part of the deal - but it can't be ruled out when you know those 14 guys really lived a fantastic human adventure aboard an unforgiving but truly fast piece of carbon fibre. After the 2002 odyssey, most of the boys who had sailed with Bruno on Orange had said they'd be ready to renew the experience whenever : a great tribute for the skipper… Ask Yann Eliès, Sébastien Josse - 5th in the Vendée, and recently appointed skipper of ABN AMRO 2 for the Volvo - JB Epron (who BTW can be congratulated on his photographic skills), and they'll all tell you the same thing. Bruno pays a lot of attention to the group, and the atmosphere on board is of vital importance for him. This is very well described in Nick Moloney's book called "Chasing the dawn", in which the Aussie sailor recounts the 2002 winning Jules Verne campaign. I should think this book may interest a lot of you, since it's a good eye on a French crew, seen from the inside… and written in English, obviously. Nick is a very fine human being, and it's not so often that you can get a race report that goes beyond the mere figures and other "cliché" dramatic scenes. So read the book, it tells a lot. When forming his crew for 2005, Bruno Peyron naturally gave the priority to the guys who had been with him in 2002. And for the new recruits, they had to gain the approval of the whole team. A clever move, so it seems, because you really want to have a "stick together" attitude on board when the going gets tough.

For the technical aspect of things, here's what Gilles Ollier (designer - builder*) said after Orange II's victory : "We learnt a lot from the Club Med and Orange I generations and already knew what was required to sail fast. That is what was top of the list in the design brief for the skipper of Orange I. A finer boat which would be more efficient head to wind, a less voluminous stern to be lighter aft, and a sail plan without a masthead gennaker for a sail plan which would be easier to handle. Also, this boat has greater sea clearance to avoid impact from waves on the cross beams, an important factor in reducing speed. We quickly agreed on hull forms and the sail plan distribution. Only roof design was a little slower to define. In short, the general conception behind Orange II was to build a boat capable of high average speeds, whilst remaining reliable and safe for those sailing her". Yet the machine proved very demanding, and as her skipper pointed out last summer after the Med record, "helming skills are critical when sailing Orange II, it's even more important than we already knew. First, the boat requires a total concentration at all times. And in terms of speed, on such a beast the difference between a good helmsman and an excellent one can amount to 3 to 5 knots. You can imagine the total of miles after a RTW journey"…

*Multiplast is currently building Franck Cammas's (4 times ORMA champion) Van Peteghem - Lauriot Prévost designed giant trimaran, which is closer to an oversized 60' (with foils, if you please) than to your average ocean going tri… The thing will be 32 metres long, due to be launched next year. First Jules Verne attempt in 2007.

Regards
Jocelyn Blériot - Course Au Large

23-Mar-2005