As the forecast was calling for fairly light winds and Orange II had to be back for her apointment with the media on Thursday afternoon, 'We didn't venture too far from home' added Bruno. 'We went to the south of Belle-Ile.' So they had 24 great hours for the boat and crew.

It was also a chance for the Swedish navigator, Roger Nilson, to collect some more data about the boat's performance.

'We'll be on stand-by from the end of next week. Before then, we'll have the time to have one or two little trips out to sea. But there isn't a lot left to do. On Monday we will start loading. We intend to be very strict about the loading and weighing procedures. There won't be a spoon on board that hasn't been weighed. By Thursday, there won't be long to go before the big day.'