TWC Breaking News–Cheyenne Soldiers On: Steve Fossett and his 13 crew have somehow managed to put Cheyenne back into fast sailing mode (after a 16 hour repair job to reattach the forestay), so the record hunt is BACK ON (see below for more on the discovery of the problem). Here’s Fossett’s after-action report:

“The crew of Cheyenne has reconnected the Forestay. Cheyenne has gybed to the Southwest and is continuing its attempt to break the Round the World Sailing Record.

This is defining of the most professional distance sailors. They can fix things at sea where normally we would have to retire to the nearest port. Despite meticulous preparation, these high performance multihulls cannot be expected to make it Round the World without mandatory repairs at sea.”

It’s not clear yet whether they can push the 125-foot catamaran to maximum potential, or whether they have to baby her around the course a bit. But knowing Fossett, I’d say the repair has to be pretty solid. He’s not the kind of guy to waste his time attempting a record with a boat that can’t give him a good chance of success. Cheyenne obviously lost some of their lead on Orange (TWC reckons about 100 miles of 500), but she is still south and east of Bruno Peyron’s equivalent position in 2002 (click here to see a chart), so she’s still ahead of the record pace. TWC will watch Cheyenne’s position and speed reports carefully for any signs of impaired performance. But right now the big cat is back up over 20 knots and pointed at Cape Horn, thousands of miles down the track. Better not break down again halfway there….

Meanwhile, back in France, Geronimo’s faulty sails have been repaired (or so the sailmaker prays) and the big tri is ready to sail again. Orange II should be repaired within days. Both teams are looking at a promising mid-to-late week weather window. One last plea: START TOGETHER, you stubborn, stubborn men…

Orange’s Bow Looking, Ummm, F*cked Up…..

(Photo: Gilles Martin Raget)