Orange II shatters PlayStation's Transatlantic Sailing Record

July 7, 2006 Of all the ocean sailing records, the Atlantic crossing is without doubt the most famous and most sought after. In 2001, legendary American adventurer Steve Fossett sailed across the Atlantic in PlayStation faster than anyone else in 4 days, 17 hours, 28 minutes and 06 seconds. Today, Frenchman Bruno Peyron and his Orange II crew smashed Fossett's record aboard the maxi catamaran Orange II, finishing the course from Ambrose Light near New York City to Lizard Point off the southwestern tip of Great Britain in just 4 days, 8 hours, 23 minutes and 54 seconds - more than 9 hours faster than Fossett. Halfway through the 3,100 nautical mile trip, Orange II hit a submerged iceberg and broke one of its two steering rudders. The team had to slow down considerably to keep from capsizing but managed to maintain a boat speed average of over 28 knots. Peyron and his veteran team already hold numerous sailing records including the fastest ‘round-the-world time. And on this trip, they broke their own 24-hour world speed record twice -- making Orange II the fastest sailboat in the world. Our report on Orange II and its preparations for this event in depth can be found here.

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