Newswire : Derek sees his first albatross

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December 06. 2008 at 16:05Derek sees his first albatross

"Last night was fast and furious again with a top speed of 25.3 knots, a best for this trip and for this boat. I can feel the effects of the high pressure system now and the barometer is starting to rise. It's going to be very close to make it through before the high develops here. I spotted my first albatross for this trip early this morning. They are magnificent birds and seem so at home here in the southern ocean. They soar around, doing a wheeling pattern into the trough of the waves and up high and back down again, only flapping their wings occasionally. I watched one last trip for over five minutes and it never flapped it's wings once, gliding on it's huge wings and relying on the wind between the waves to keep going. I'm wondering if they can do this wheeling and soaring pattern in their sleep. I've read that they will spend months at sea and never touch land."
Derek Hatfield (Algimouss-Spirit of Canada) in his daily log

December 06. 2008 at 15:12Nickelback in the southern seas

"To be overtaken by somebody who is on their fifth lap of the planet is not too bad to be honest. You can really see the difference between the guys who have done it before and the rest of us. Look at Bernard. He is clearly more at ease with the conditions down here so would not have had any qualms about putting more sail up. It is not nice to lose miles to these guys but in a funny way, it gives you confidence. It is hard to relax. I am playing my Ipod pretty loud at the moment. Before I left I loaded a new album on that I had never listened to before - by The Script. I absolutely love it so I'm listening to that every day. If I want a singalong, I play Nickelback and reckon I am singing louder than the noise the boat makes. I had a couple of days when I freaked out a bit and was super sensitive about everything. I phoned my boyfriend Harry in a flurry of tears. It was a combination of everything - I was in the south. It was full on and it would be like this for a while. I had never done this before and I was on my own. Its fine now but I just had a small panic I think, which is a bit weird because I am enjoying it."
Dee Caffari (Aviva) in her daily message

December 06. 2008 at 14:37Chocolate for Norbert

"The wind has eased off and it is more stable now. Life is good on board. I haven't broken anything. Today, 6th December is a special day in Austria. It's St. Nick's Day and we all eat chocolate. I'm sleeping well and eating well. I'm sure the weather will steadily worsen."
Norbert Sedlacek (Nauticsport-Kapsch) on today's radio session. We can hope that Norbert is behaving himself, as in the German version of the story, Knecht Ruprecht accompanies St. Nick to punish or even eat bad children!

December 06. 2008 at 11:31Sam woken by a waterfall

"Here on planet "Grey" (grey skies, grey sea) all is well. There are still 30-35 knots of wind and Roxy is rocketing along! A funny thing happened last night. I was sleeping in my usual bed (now in hat and gloves I have to mention) at the chart table, and I was awoken by the sound of a waterfall! I quickly remembered where I was and which way was forward. During this time I managed to realise that we were a little bit on our side and the waterfall noise was coming from the hatchway. In fact, the waterfall was coming IN the hatch! So, what had happened was that Roxy had got picked up and "dumped" by a breaking wave, and the aforementioned wave had the cheekiness to break itself not only into the cockpit, but right into my cabin! Initially, it was quite scary to wake up to that, but actually it was perfectly harmless, just a bit damp. The inconvenience of it all was that I had to get out of bed and wade around in my wellies with the bilge pump to remove the Southern Ocean from my, once dry, floor. One small positive point is that my two buckets had been sitting in firing range and the wave had obediently filled them both up, so at least that was a little bit less work with the sponge!"
Sam Davies (Roxy) in her daily message

December 06. 2008 at 11:12Freezing down here

"The wind has arrived and the speed is rising. I'm doing 20 / 21 knots! It was a busy night with lots of sail changes. Went through the whole range! I think I'm in a good position to get through the next gate with an interesting wind angle. The drawback with this option is that it is freezing down here! When I carried out manoeuvres in the night, my fingers were numb. I'm down at 47° south so close to the icebergs. I shan't be going down any further, as the satellites have spotted huge blocks of ice at 47°30 S. In 3 hours, I'll be in the Indian Ocean."
Jean-Pierre Dick (Paprec-Virbac 2) talking to his shore team this morning

December 06. 2008 at 10:39First competitors past the Cape

The first competitors passed the longitude of the Cape of Good Hope this morning. Sébastien Josse (BT) was the first to signal he had passed the Cape at 07h40 UTC. He was followed by Yann Elies (Générali) at 08h50 UTC, and Loïck Peyron at 09h28 UTC.

December 06. 2008 at 10:05When dreams become reality

"Typical Southern Ocean conditions here, 30-35 knots of wind, drizzle and Bahrain Team Pindar is going fast, making good miles on the fleet and handling the conditions well. I am now just on the leading edge of a band of strong NW winds that are making their way eastwards, and I am using that wind to make some miles back on the frontrunners, before this wind reaches them. For the first time in the race the peloton has split and decided to go all over the ocean in search of the best wind. It is going to be interesting to see them regroup at the next ice gate. So far I am enjoying this stage of the race even though it is often wet and stressful, because, as I thought to myself yesterday whilst on the helm. I am here because it’s been a dream to race around the world solo, and now it’s a reality, I am fortunate enough to be doing it thanks to Pindar and Bahrain, so savour and remember it all. That’s all for today, as I have got to clean up half of last nights dinner that ended up in the bilge after one large wave, and then get ready for another gybe."
Brian Thompson (Pindar) in his log yesterday evening

December 06. 2008 at 09:38Race against the dolphins

"Just the weather you hope for, real ocean racing weather! This morning was sunny and a few dolphins raced alongside the boat. I think they just about won... Today, I spent seven hours at the helm. I should be heading further south, but that would mean giving up the speed. I've been busy with the video camera today to. All in all it was a rather tiring, but great day!"
Norbert Sedalacek (Nauticsport-Kapsch) in his daily message yesterday evening

December 06. 2008 at 08:55Not much fun for Jonny

"A difficult few days on board Artemis, as I try and work out how to make her go fast and safe in these strong downwind conditions. I have a few problems on board that I am trying to fix, watermaker being the most important. Hopefully get them working today, will let you know. Breezy night last night, with 40 knots of wind and a massive confused sea state. Not much fun I have to say, and I owe the pilot another beer for being out in the cold all night and not moaning! Found that the trim tab had been stuck down which explains why the boat has felt so unstable – guess it easy to miss obvious things when you are tired. Managed to get it back up with some persuasion, and we feel better already. A month of greyness ahead then!! Whoop whoop!!"

Jonny Malbon (Artemis) in his daily message

December 06. 2008 at 07:45Dee in the deep end

"A speedy day surfing with the top speed of 28 knots. It is a little bit full on but I am getting used to it and Aviva is loving it. Mind you seeing Bernard Stamm steam through makes me realise that his several laps in this direction counts for quite a lot. I feel as if I am in the deep end of the swimming pool for the first time and frantically paddling to stay afloat. It is intense and a little stressful and you feel that at any moment it might all be over but the fact that you are doing it makes you grin from ear to ear. The highlight of today was passing the first ice gate. This afternoon the gate was to the south of me. The next mark of the course is passing beneath the first Great Cape. The Cape of Good Hope, South Africa. I may have missed the worst of the weather but my 30 knots of breeze has been accompanied by huge waves that have controlled Aviva and I more than the wind and sails at times. The worst of the weather will be through tonight and we shall see a lighter wind for the end of the weekend. Another chance to check through the boat after her first big surf in the south."
Dee Caffari (Aviva) in her daily message sent yesterday evening