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The alarm goes off. You are woken up suddenly. It does not even feel like you've had any sleep.  What's going on? You automatically look at the instruments. Your course! That's not right. You're heading for Argentina!

Your docile, faithful friend, the automatic pilot has obeyed your orders "Don't worry about where you are going. Just follow the wind and warn me if the course changes. I can rely on you, ok?"  The electronic device with its usual precision responded to your instructions. And warned you of the change in course as promised.

A glance at the watch: 12 minutes of sleep. Not a lot. Much too short. You try not to wake up too much so you can get back to sleep quickly. You need to get up quickly without any hasty movements. This time, you won't bother to get dressed, as it will be quicker. Better put on the boots nevertheless to keep your shoes dry. Try to find your way out. You have to be a contortionist in here.
In the cockpit, you know what needs to be done. It's a question of instinct. Firstly, set the pilot. The wind is easing off again, so let's head off to the left, 20° east, so we can get up some more speed and find the time to sleep. Next, sheet in the gennaker — turn the winch handle, yawning, with aching muscles and sleep-filled eyes. The movement is rather lazy, but that will do in this half-conscious state. Now the mainsail. Sheet it in too. Move the traveller car. Perfect. The boat is off again, heeling over a little further.

A quick check on the sails. That's fine.  Back to bed...  You jump down into the cabin. Chuck away the boots and throw yourself down on your bunk or beanbag. Try and empty all the thoughts out of your mind and turn everything off in your head, so you are not disturbed by the noise. Into oblivion and sleep... immediately.
But the erratic night winds around the high have spotted you. Patient and cunning, they will let you sleep for just 10 minutes, until you are in a deep sleep, where your body recovers the most. Then it creeps around to the south, just enough to set off the pilot. It's doing it deliberately.

The alarm goes off again.  Without thinking it consciously you tell yourself you are going to resist and sleep in spite of that piercing din. But the klaxon is there to make sure you wake up whatever the circumstances and you have to get up to turn it off. You can't complain. You set it up like that.

So you need to get out of your sleep whatever happens and immediately, like a diver coming to the surface without stopping to decompress. Under normal circumstances the next stop would be the dream stage. This time, once again, you're going to have to do without. Dreaming is not allowed.

However, in spite of your motivation, it is getting harder and harder to get up. Your body can't take it. Physically, you're still OK. But in front of the computer screen, you feel that it's all a blur. The weather charts, the route to take, the best option, the pictures are fuzzy and confusing. In the warmth of the cabin in front of this hypnotising blue screen, you just feel like sleeping again.
Yet, in this game of chess in the South Atlantic, you need to keep a clear head if you intend to win. There are choices to be made. You can force yourself to stay awak to continue working on the adjustments, trying to win back a  ew miles, but the risk of dozing off cannot be forgotten. 20 hours without sleep and the impact on your attention span is equal to 0.50g of alcohol in the blood. Considering your lack of sleep, your breath test would fail on this scale.

Far from the busy roads, that might not seem important, but this concentration span will penalise you in terms of your strategic choices and your adjustments. Eventually, if the lack of sleep leads to hallucinations, your safety can be under threat.

You simply must not let it go that far, even if the boats are so close together that it is more like a Figaro race at the gateway to the Forties. Many have experienced the phenomenon, suddenly hearing voices aor believing someone is on board. It is a curious situation, when you suddenly see Cardinal Richelieu sitting beside you. You haven't taken anything to fire your im. It is quite simply a sort of dream you are having while awake, as your mind drifts off, worn out by the stress.

So you may lose a little ground, but go and get some sleep — it will pay off in the long term.  There is a long way to go and the deep south is coming up shortly. Let there be no mistake, there won't be any eight-hour nights tucked up in cosy sheets for some time, not until you are back in Les Sables d’Olonne. Here it is a luxury to get two hours, the time it takes for a deep sleep cycle with a dream.

You can make the alarm less sensitive, even if your speed may suffer somewhat. Don't feel guilty about it. The others, both behind and in front, are not supermen. They too will have to sleep at some point.

Now, take the time to undress as if it is for the whole night. With your head on the pillow, your breathing becomes more relaxed and slower. Already your thoughts move away from the boat to find a different place and hear familiar voices to calm you and soothe you to sleep before the dreaming can begin...

Dr Jean-Yves Chauve

 

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