PlayStation is still on target for breaking the East-West Transatlantic record. Having spent yesterday weaving through the Caribbean archipelago at over 20 knots, Steve Fossett and crew are preparing for a hero’s welcome at the San Salvador sometime this morning. Turks and Caicos Islands.

Yesterday Brian Thompson the navigator sent this report from the boat: “We are 100nm off Turks and Caicos Islands, on port gybe and just about scraping past them on this wind angle. Later we expect a further shift to the south to let us head straight for the finish. There is a chance we will have to make a short gybe to clear the Turks and Caicos Islands, but we hope not to.

“Up ahead is a cold front almost sitting on San Salvador, and this will slow us down at the end, as the wind dies underneath this slow moving weather feature. We are already seeing a lot of squally clouds, so we may be seeing the sun for the last time this afternoon.

“Our finish time hinges on what happens under this cold front – and when we reach it. Waves are 1.5 to 2 m, giving us some good surfs – seeing high 20s boatspeed.

An interesting fact for all who have crossed the pond on this route: We sailed from the Canaries to the Caribbean in 6 days and 10 hours. This was to a point 150 nm N of the Virgin Islands, the equivalent distance to the crossing to Antigua. I am fairly certain no sailing vessel has done that trip faster! It is not in any way a verifiable record, but for those like me who did a 21 day crossing on my first trip, it is pretty amazing.”