In her second Round the World record attempt, Earthrace has left the Azores and is heading for Puerto Rico.
The first leg from Sagunto in Spain to Horta in the Azores, 1542 nautical miles, took 2 days 17 hours and 55 seconds, at an average over 22 knots.
The crew on the biodiesel fuelled Earthrace struggled through the last hours of the leg, with a fuel restriction on the startboard lift pump slowing her along with a faulty autopilot pump, meaning the crew had to hand steer the 78 footer manually not an easy task. As skipper Pete Bethune comments 'Earthrace can be a raging bull'.
During the Azores stopover, the autopilot pump and fuel pump were replaced while refuelling was in progress and Earthrace is now heading for the Americas. If they can maintain an average over 20 knots they will take less than five days to power the 2315 miles to San Juan in Puerto Rico.
Its early days yet but this attempt is going much more smoothly than their 2007 event and Earthrace is well ahead of the Cable & Wireless team's 1998 record.
You can listen to Bethune's report by satellite phone here now.
Voice Mail from Earthrace - Click play button twice to listen
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