Sunday 28 March 2004 - 0813 GMT - position 0 degrees latitude, 28 38 W longitude - 70 miles South of St Peter’s and St Paul’s Rocks (Br): Just 3 hrs and 3 minutes into their 51st day at sea Steve Fossett and crew aboard the 125′ maxi-catamaran Cheyenne have crossed the Equator for a second time on their Round The World Sailing record attempt - this time Northbound, over 3 days ahead of the pace of current RTW record holder Orange I from 2002. They are now some 3250 nm from the official RTW finish line (a N-S line between Ouessant island off France and the UK landmark ‘The Lizard’ in Cornwall) - which they hope to cross in another 10-11 days.

Fossett and crew ended their 50th RTW day this morning having logged an impressive 543 nm (avg 22.6 kts) over the past 24 hours through what are normally ‘The Doldrums’ in their race towards the finish. But the Doldrums - with their associated calms and local storms - now still lie to the North, and promise to be difficult - with the worst squalls predicted between 00 40 N & 01 30 N.

Fossett and Cheyenne’s target is the most important record in sailing: Orange I’s 2002 RTW record (skipper Bruno Peyron) of 64 days 8 hours 37 minutes 24 seconds from Ouessant - Ouessant.

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