SAILING/Volvo Race Diary:THE END is in sight, but the weather is being cruel to us out here. We've made slow progress on board Green Dragon over the last few days as we've been forced to sail upwind, in little breeze. Our on-board router's ETA seems to be permanently jammed on a week to go, which is killing us!
It’s been the classic “rich get richer” situation with the leading yacht Ericsson 3 gaining miles by the day. We’ve been swallowed up in a ridge of high pressure and it’s hurting us badly. Ericsson 3 are now more than 400 miles out in front and Puma, who were just 80 miles ahead, have extended their lead on us to almost 300 miles. Meanwhile, Telefonica Blue are edging closer from behind. It’s soul-destroying, but it’s out of our hands as we can only sail in the winds we have.
This leg has turned out to be much longer than anyone anticipated so we’ve had to start seriously rationing the food. It’s not much fun having to go hungry as we try to make the few meals we have left last an extra week. All the teams will be in the same position, so each boat will have 11 hungry men on board desperate to arrive in Rio.
There’s always a great celebration and a sense of relief when rounding the notorious Cape Horn. However, it can give you a false sense of security as you feel a bit invincible having survived the Southern Ocean, but there is often worse to come.
Just after the Horn you have to sail through the Maire Straits, a stretch of water between the Estados Islands and Argentina. The Straits were kind to us this time. The water was glassy and we could see the islands – the first time we have seen land since Fiji a month ago. In previous round the world races I’ve experienced some of the worst conditions I’ve ever seen in the Straits.
From the Straits we fetched towards the Falkland Islands where the weather began to turn against us, forcing us to short tack, in amongst the western islands. They were some of the most barren islands I’ve ever encountered. Our skipper, Ian Walker, was a little nervous as we weaved our way through, as his grandfather was shipwrecked there as a boy some 100 years ago and forced to swim ashore.
The Green Dragon is in good condition with just a few scars from the Southern Ocean, notably the head (toilet) which is smashed to pieces. Our new boy, Chris Maine, put it beautifully when he described trying to use the head in rough conditions: “It’s like sitting on the toilet of a caravan being towed by a four-wheel drive racing around a motocross track!”
We’re now faced with the daunting task of sailing through a ridge of high pressure. The weather is really changeable right now, so you perfectly position the yacht, only to find out six hours later you’re in completely the wrong place. We lost miles by taking an expensive detour to the west, losing around 140 miles in 24 hours. Our navigator Wouter Verbraak calculated it was better to take the hit then, than stay east and take an even bigger one 12 hours later.
The guys are still upbeat but we’re all getting weary and tired of being out here. It’s been far too long at sea now.
Our media man, Guo Chuan, has been taking part in an environmental survey, testing the water quality as we sail around the world. He has to lean over the stern every three days and collect water samples. He then examines them down below with a device called a luminometer to determine the number of micro-organisms and logs the air and water temperature, cloud cover and GPS position of the boat. The results are then sent electronically to a team of scientists in Stockholm.
As we edge closer to Rio it’s getting more and more tense for Ian (Walker) and Wouter at the navigation station. With the weather changing so much, their tactics are a little like throwing dice right now.
Perhaps it’s time to put the computers away and just point the yacht at Rio!
