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Geronimo sets sights on record books

PARIS, France -- French TV talk show star Olivier de Kersauson has built a giant for a round-the-world record attempt.

The 34 metre (110 feet) three-hulled Geronimo, the biggest trimaran ever, is embarking on a four-year campaign that will include at least one trans-oceanic record each year.

Kersauson's programme will start early in 2002 with an attempt on his 71-day Jules Verne record for non-stop sailing around the world without outside assistance, set in 1997.

By attempting to better this and to beat the 62-day circumnavigation by Club Med in The Race, Kersauson, 57, is hoping to stimulate new challengers, including those that entered The Race.

There are likely to be counter attempts from Steve Fossett in Playstation, a feeter his recent transatlantic record, before the next edition of The Race scheduled for 2004.

The two-hulled 34m (110 feet) catamarans built for The Race that took place early in 2001 circled the planet at record speeds with the winner, Grant Dalton's Club Med, taking just 62 days.

The Race, however, started and finished at different ports in the Mediterranean so Club Med's record did not qualify for the Jules Verne Trophy.

To set a Jules Verne Trophy record the usual starting point is a line between Ushant, off the coast of Brittany, France, and the Lizard Point on the south-west coast of Britain.

Kersauson is shooting for three target records, Jules Verne in 2002, the Atlantic Record (New York to Lizard Point) and the Route of Discovery (Cadiz to San Salvador).

He also aims to set several historic records including Trans-Pacific, New York to San Francisco, Round Australia, Round Britain, the Clipper Route (Hong Kong to London) and Cowes to Dinard.

The four-year programme is sponsored by management and IT consultants Cap Gemini Ernst & Young and Schneider Electric.