Day 51 for the crew of the 24 metre wave piercing trimaran Earthrace as she slowly heads across the Indian Ocean from Kochi (Cochin) India, 1400 nautical miles to Salalah in Oman.
New Zealand skipper Pete Bethune reports that Earthrace set another slow speed record day. The biofuelled giant travelled only 255 nautical miles, in the last 24 hours, at an average speed of 11 knots, as the crew nursed Earthrace through the big seas whipped up by 35 to 40 knot monsoonal winds.
Overnight she powered over waves of five to six metres, but now conditions are beginning to ease and the wind is dropping, so her speed should begin to increase.
At 12:35 GMT 51 days ago Earthrace left Sagunto in Spain for her 23,700 nautical mile world circumnavigation and she has now a little over 4,000 miles to travel. The current world record is 74 days 23 hours and 53 minutes and if Earthrace crossed the balance of the Indian ocean without incident, albiet very slowly and makes it back to Spain, she should take at least ten days off the world record.
The 12:35 GMT sat phone report can be heard here.
Voice Mail from Earthrace - Click play button twice to listen
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