Ocean Planet - The Race

Ocean Planet Archives
(Follow Bruce from the Start of his journey to the start of the race. Lots of Pictures and Updates, so please be patient)

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After two good nights of sleep, I'm finally sitting down to recall the blur of my trip down the New Zealand coast...I hope I can remember!

Almost the entire last 500 miles of the leg were upwind. Brad and I talked a lot on the satphone complaining of our fate, but we usually ended with "Geez, at least we're not back where Tim, Derrick, Koji, and Alan are, so we should quit our whining!"

I was faced with a tactical dilemma - I couldn't go fast upwind on starboard tack in any kind of seaway, lacking the use of the starboard ballast tank. But rounding Cape Reinga, I noticed some favorable current inside of the next point. I realized that I had a chance to work the coastline much like I would sailing on my home waters in the San Francisco bay. The problem would be staying awake since there were countless rocks and hazards showing on my Nobeltec Vector charts. So I could be safe (and slow) and go outside, or I could take the plunge and see if I could close the gap on Emma up ahead by staying in and tacking constantly. In I went. Brad said "Dude, you be careful in there!"

The New Zealand coastline is stunningly rugged and beautiful accentuated by the nasty weather we were facing. After each point, I faced the brutal headseas and blasting wind on starboard until I could find another place to work into. I drove nearly all of the time to work the boat through the waves and minimize the hideous pounding. On the next morning I saw a boat directly upwind barely visible through the blasting rain and squalls. It was Emma. She was sailing wounded also and could only use her mainsail in the third reef unless the wind was very light. So the big winds were to her advantage as she could remain powered up on the wide and stable "Pindar."

The wind was picking up so I had to go to a third reef. A batten came loose in the process, and I had a minor fiasco climbing part way up the rig to pull it out and drop it on the deck without losing it. I lost sight of Emma in the process and headed back in.

Over the next day (or two?) I wound up working through several amazing bays and points including the Bay of Islands and the Hauraki Gulf. I thought I was history when the wind went temporarily dead in the gulf, but then I got the right shift I was praying for and wound up so I could sail the channel south of Great Barrier Island. I had a chance. Later in the day, Brad, Emma, and myself all approached the Mercury islands from different angles....Emma crossed a mere 100 yards ahead! I was watching the wind shifts and did two quick tacks to get in phase with them and was able to pass her and get to windward. Then I had a blessing as the wind let up favoring Ocean Planet's superior light wind ability.

I worked to a good lead over the last night only to run into a dead zone allowing Emma within a 1/4 mile at dawn. But luck came my way one last time, and I snagged a gentle puff off the land and moved into a streak of wind that just missed her. I almost felt bad as I put 12 miles into my lead right to the finish before she escaped the dead zone. Brad was also stuck...he called and said "Dude! You left me here with no wind!"

The next few hours of the welcoming fleet of boats, the morning sunshine, my friends and supporters on the boats and the docks mixed in with hundreds of well-wishing New Zealanders....it is all a colorful blur in my mind beyond description. I'll leave it to your imagination.

A few days ago some folks completely misinterpreted some wording of mine in an update to think that I am not a patriotic American. Nothing could be further from the truth. I will not go into any politics, but I care deeply about my country, my freedom, and immeasurably proud to represent the U.S. on Ocean Planet supported by contributors to THE MADE IN AMERICA FOUNDATION. If anyone thinks otherwise, they are sorely mistaken, and itchin' for a fight.

Bruce and Ocean Planet
From New Zealand
More than halfway around the world in the 2002/2003 Around Alone.

The last 24 hours (roughly) has been very light air. While its been slow going, Ocean Planet is lethal in light air so we have caught up some to Brad and have just about passed Emma on Pindar. We had been gaining on Simone and Graham too, but they have finally escaped the dead spot they were in and are on the move again.

About 335 miles to the north tip of New Zealand, and then we turn south down the east coast to Tauranga. Looks like we will be beating down the coast too....but hopefully not too much wind.

One reason why we are so good in light air is our new Doyle D4 main and working jib, which are awesome sails. Check out the pic of the jib...here the runner is eased to give it a little extra power. Don't you wish your new sails looked this good? And this is after 6000 miles of Southern Ocean flogging, furling, and general abuse!

A shot of the main is attached too. This sail is about 1800 sq ft! Notice the unstayed mast...no shrouds. This mast works so well, I predict that more and more high performance and cruising boats will have them. I now call the shrouds on other boats "Training wheels for an old fashioned mast"...;-)

Friday, January 10, 2003 1300gmt (5am PST, and 10:30pm local time)
Position: 41 02S, 165 04E

If you sail a lot on "normal" sailboats, it might be hard to get used to how fast all of these Open Class boats are. Even without a boom vang or water ballast, all it takes is a day of good wind angle and good old OP is still rippin' off the miles across the Tasman Sea. Of course one of the nice things about this "skinny" boat is that she can heel far over and not wipe out.

Yesterday the sea state abated enough (less big breakers and nasty waves) so that I could rehoist the mainsail to the third reef and put the pedal down. Pressin' her hard, it takes some getting used to the heel angle without the ballast and the very light feel of the boat. We are doing a lot of banging, but have made good time having actually caught up some to Emma on Pindar. Although we're been in better wind...I'll take what I can get!

However, we're a good two knots slower than we'd be if fully cranked up, as made evident by Brad having blown by us both in his "Fabulous Fifty." At this wind angle, wind just aft of the beam, his boat is as fast as most of the Open 60's which partially explains his huge lead on Class Two. But it wouldn't be easy for him to get by without both me and Emma
having a few, er, issues...like no water ballast (me) or torn sails (Emma).

This relatively speedy session will be over soon as we head into easterly headwinds for the last several hundred miles to Cape Reinga. That will be the northern tip of New Zealand where we turn south for the last 300 miles or so to Tauranga. In the upwind conditions, where Ocean Planet is usually one of the top boats, we'll be a hurtin' unit without the ballast but better off than any of the other boats would be if they had the same problem. We'll see how it goes!

The weather is strange as we ride along with a slow moving front, sometimes totally overcast, then with bits of sun sneaking through. As the sun went down, it suddenly shone through under the clouds on the horizon behind us, a beautiful sight.

What a pity to have to sail right by such famous place without stopping! I'd like to see a "Tasmanian Devil," which is an altogether odd animal (and not at all like the hilarious creature in the Bugs Bunny cartoons....).

Hobart, Tasmania, is also the finish of the famous Sydney-Hobart ocean race, a race that is on my list to do someday. No rush though as I have plenty of sailing going on right now!

We've been zooming along pretty good today. It didn't blow as hard as predicted or I must have been just north of it. In any case the sailing is GREAT! The confused seas of the last week (at least) have died down and the ride is smooth but still fast. With the mainsail sorta stuck in third reef, I have been going with the staysail together with either the working jib or genoa. As the wind has been up and down a bit, I alternate the jib and genoa to keep the right amount of power going. For kicks I tried all FOUR sails at once (main, staysail, working jib, and genoa) just to see it. It doesn't work, however, as they interfere with each other too much, but it was funny to look at.

Emma is to the south of me also with her mainsail stuck at the third reef. She ripped it in an unscheduled jibe the other day and had to spend a lot of time sitting on the boom trying to fix it. She sent me an email that her sound system and deck speakers are pretty good so she had music to work to! I gained on her a bit and our courses are converging, so we will be in the same neighborhood soon. It will then be interesting to see how the boats match up with undersized mainsails for the last few days to New Zealand. We've been joking about a "third reef only division"....

We will be entering the Tasman sea tomorrow and leaving the Southern Ocean behind for now. I've learned that keeping your sense of humor is important here, as things break and conditions get dangerous you need jokes and a light spirit to fend off the feelings of dread and fear that try to creep up on you. In dealing with unpleasant issues or chores, the right attitude makes a big difference.

Looks like we might have nice conditions to cross the Tasman, and I might even get to use the spinnaker!

Hmmm.....wind is dying suspiciously outside. Wonder if I'm too far north, but not much to be done about it as once I came up north to try to fix the vang, the course options were limited from there. Better go trim stuff up! It's more upwind now, so I can try the second reef....

Well we've had quite a few slow position reports as I've worked north to find lighter winds and smoother seas to work on the vang project. I went for it last night as it seemed about as good as it was going to get.

My plan was to get the bent vang strut down and wedge the bent stainless shaft into the keel box. Then I could use the strut itself as a lever to try to bend the stainless straight enough to use. It took a while to get the strut down as I had to climb a up the mast and then try not to drop it on the deck after taking the clevis pin out. I then took the keel box deck lid off (only about 30 screws....) and gave it a shot.

Unfortunately, the stainless has gotten too stiff after having been bent too far, and all I managed to do was crack the end of the carbon tube, so I had to call it quits. So, I put the keel lid back on and then I put the strut back up (much harder than getting it down) since it helps keep the mainsail on the boom. This means no vang for the rest of the way to Tauranga...:-(

I can still use the mainsail, but just in a limited way off the wind. I have it up now in third reef which is too small for the breeze but the boom stays under control. I will have to keep a close eye on it as the wind picks up since if the boom goes up too high it is hard on the lower battens. Hard to be an effective preventer on this boat since it is so narrow and the boom so long that the load on the line is enormous. During the climbing, I messed up a chronic pulled muscle in my right arm that is giving me grief, but it is more irritating than debilitating.

But in any case, we are making tracks again at a decent pace by pushing the light genoa a bit above its range to make up for the lost mainsail area. Emma is having her own problems to the south of me after having ripped her mainsail. We trade emails, and she joked about having a "no mainsail" race the rest of the way....but apparently she has it temporarily fixed and is also at the 3rd reef. Perhaps a "3rd reef only" race...;-)

Some good breeze coming tomorrow! Time to knock off some serious miles towards New Zealand and see if I can close the gap on boats ahead.

Ever wonder why things like weather systems or the water going down the drain rotate one way in the Southern Hemisphere and the other in the north? Or why do they rotate at all? Me too.

Let's start with a rough description of how weather and wind works. Wind flows from areas of high pressure to areas of low pressure trying to fill up the low. How soon a low fills up depends on what is happening to the air in the upper atmosphere above it, but that's another subject. What concerns us is that if you look at a map or chart from above it will show which way the wind is blowing and it appears to be going in a circle around the low. It is also going in a circle around the high and sometimes it looks like two wheels or gears spinning together. Why doesn't the air go straight at the low? What is the Coriolis effect? The answer, which seems unbelievable, is that the air IS going pretty much straight, or starts out that way, but there is something else at work....let me explain.

As you know, the earth is rotating once every 24 hrs or 1000 miles per hour at the equator (the earth is roughly 24,000 miles in circumference there). Imagine that you are standing at the north pole and a friend of yours, let's call him Bob, is standing on the equator. Let's also say the two of you are giants and are tall enough to see each other over the curvature of the earth. If you are facing Bob and can see him it seems like the both of you are not moving, but he is actually going 1000 miles an hour faster than you! You are not moving, but are slowly rotating with the earth beneath your feet so that you keep facing him.

Now let's say that you and Bob have this thing going with paper airplanes and like to throw them at each other. The both of you are really good and can throw them far enough to hit each other and at 1000 miles per hour (just bear with me here....), you smile, take aim with your super paper airplane and fire one off directly at Bob at 1000 mph. Since Bob is on the equator, which is half way to the south pole (or 1/4 of the way around the world) he is 6000 miles away so it should take six hours for your airplane to get to him on the equator.

Now here's the weird thing: you watch in amazement as your airplane zooms off to the right and misses Bob by thousand of miles!! The reason is that Bob is not where he was when you threw the airplane, but has moved 6000 miles in the 6 hours due to the rotation of the earth. Your airplane is going straight, BUT THE EARTH IS TURNING UNDERNEATH IT making your airplane look like it is going in a curved line. The earth is rotating to the east so anything that moves towards the equator looks or acts like it turns west, since the earth is going faster there than wherever the moving object started. Conversely, anything moving towards the north or south pole has more rotational speed than where it is going, so it looks like it turns to the east.

This is what happens to the air as it moves from high to low pressure. In the Northern Hemisphere the air flowing south from a high goes to the west, and air flowing north from the high goes to the east starting the circular flow that you see on the map. This is what we call the Coriolis effect. Draw two high pressure areas out on a globe, one on the north side of the equator, and one on the south side, and you'll see why the two highs turn in opposite directions to each other.

Keep in mind that the wind doesn't really start out curving, but the earth is actually rotating underneath it. In reality the wind eventually does get drug along by the friction of the earth but we only need to get so far into this....this is about as much as I have figured out so far anyway.

I hope this makes sense! If you get it you can now explain the Coriolis effect to amaze your friends with your knowledge of this earth, our Ocean Planet.

By the way, Gustave-Gaspard Coriolis was an 18th century math major in France. (Thanks to supporter Ken Keim)

Well, last night was pretty fast, but as the wind picked up this morning I left the main at two reefs instead of going to three. I felt it was time to rev it up another notch and stay in touch with Simone and Emma who were not that far ahead and who have been putting up blistering speeds. The conditions were good for us, heavy running where we go main alone (the jibs would backwind behind it anyway), and let the sheet way out, like we can do with the unstayed rig. This way we sail a lower and more direct course than the other boats can at slightly slower or equal speed. I call it "Wyliecat" mode, after our designer's line of high performance unstayed cat-rigged (one sail) boats in California.

Unfortunately, either I pushed too hard or in one of the occasional spinouts (when hit by big breakers) we put the boom too far in the water. Whatever it was we badly bent part of the port pusher vang strut and also ripped off a cheek block from the boom that led the vang line purchase. This system is pretty darn beefy but this is the Southern Ocean...a great place to test gear to the fullest extent....;-)

So I've had to drop the mainsail. Without the vang there is a risk of over compressing the battens and breaking them, whereupon they might rip our new sail. I don't want THAT to happen so in a few days when it gets lighter I'll try find a way to jury rig the vang. In the meantime its headsails only so I'm going with the light genoa and the staysail together. At 30kts it's more wind than the genoa is meant for, but I tried the working jib and staysail and it was just too slow. We're going to lose some ground without the mainsail, but I need to keep the loss to a minimum. In the Tasman sea anything can happen so I'm not out of it yet.

Today I was going to give you my Coriolis effect explanation, but today's sailing antics cut into my writing time (we DO have our priorities here!). So stay tuned for the secret in tomorrow's update. It's worth waiting for, trust me! It's good to understand how and why things work on our Ocean Planet.

Flyin' Towards the Gate

Mid race report, Monday, December 30, 2002
1300gmt Position: 45 50S, 102 35E
Heading 90T, speed 11-15kts

In the remote ocean region to the south of Australia, six Open 60 sailboats and their skippers have approached the mandatory "gate" at latitude 46 south, between longitude 105 and 120 east. Four of the boats are still within a few hundred miles of each other at what is essentially the halfway point of this roughly 7000 mile leg. I am quite proud to be one of those four boats.

The other two boats sailed by legendary solo racers Bernard Stamm and Thierry Dubois have a big lead on our group, which reflects their vast experience and years of preparation. I am in awe of these sailors and have followed them for years. I thought I might give you an idea of their backgrounds:

Bernard, with his boat "Bobst Group," is now the holder of the monohull west to east transatlantic records BOTH singlehanded AND crewed (despite nearly capsizing in the crewed effort). He set both records on the same boat, which he built mostly himself out of carbon fiber at his home base in western France, a hotbed of solo racers and boats. His entry in the last Vendee ended early with autopilot problems and he is out for revenge.

Thierry, aboard "Solidaires," won the prestigious mini-transat in 1997 aboard his "Amnesty International." This crazy transatlantic race is in a sense tougher than the Around Alone in that it is raced in wild 21 footers without any modern communication or computers allowed! He was the first of only a handful of finishers in a year where the fleet (of 70 boats!) was obliterated by a huge storm. To win the "mini" as it is called, in such a year, puts him in superstar status in France. He has raced two Vendee Globe races, being capsized in the first effort (in fact, south of Australia, uh, somewhere around HERE!) and spending three days in a survival suit on the bottom of his upside down boat clinging to the rudder. He finished the last Vendee aboard "Solidaires," but unofficially as he had to make but one stop to repair his alternator. Needless to say, he is out for blood this time and is pursuing Bernard's faster boat with a vengeance.

Of our "gang of four," currently the leader is Graham Dalton, Whitbread veteran and older brother of the very famous ocean racer Grant Dalton. His boat "Hexagon" is the newest and potentially fastest Open 60 in the world, but is in fact perhaps TOO new and has had a lot of breakages in the first two legs (I can relate). On the transatlantic delivery to the start he broke his rig, arrived late in Newport, and suffered a mandatory time penalty in leg one that put me in front of him by a point (despite breaking my boom and finishing behind him). However, he has an awesome shore team and they completely revamped the boat in Cape Town. Over the last few days he has shown blistering speed.

In fourth is Simone Bianchetti aboard "Tiscali," the former "Whirlpool" and considered by some to be the most powerful Open 60 ever built. Simone raced and finished the last Vendee aboard another chartered boat, and is glad I'm sure to be on a faster steed this time. Unfortunately, one of the problems with chartered boats is being able to finish the vast preparation in time, leaving Simone with autopilot problems in Leg 1, the early part of Leg 2, and then the cruncher, breaking his rig. He is currently using a rig borrowed from Bernard and will have a new one installed at the next stop in Tauranga, New Zealand. Even with a borrowed rig, this vaunted Mark Lombard design is very, very fast.

Right next to Simone is Emma Richards on "Pindar." Emma is one of the winningest skippers in the fleet with singlehanded class wins in the 1999 Transat Jacque Vabre, and then, a prestigious win in class two of the 1Star (formerly the Ostar) singlehanded transatlantic race from Plymouth, England to Newport, RI. Her chartered boat is the former "Gartmore," claimed to be the lightest Open 60 ever built, but she has also had autopilot and other issues that often plague these boats. She is cooking now, on the last sked she averaged over 16kts.

Just behind Simone and Emma is yours truly, aboard our very unique and different "Ocean Planet." I am perhaps the luckiest skipper in the fleet, having been supported in creating this boat by hundreds of individual contributors and by my many contacts in the marine industry. Many of the features on this boat are revolutionary, especially our rotating unstayed rig, and our "cellulose fiber" (wood...hee,hee) hull by Schooner Creek Boat Works in Portland, Oregon. My solo racing claim to infamy is my win in the 1996 singlehanded transpac race to Hawaii, aboard my wild modified 30 square meter "Rumbleseat," that was originally built in 1930. I am a long time yacht rigger and it is beyond my wildest dreams to be putting so many of the new ideas on Ocean Planet to the test in the Around Alone. Breaking the boom in Leg 1 didn't help my placing but better to break it in the Atlantic than here, in this VERY cold and remote place. We will be getting faster and faster as this race goes on, just watch. But to those who are worried, I will be safe and bring home our unique (and uninsured) boat in one piece. We have been hauling in the last few days and have made the most of our north position for a better angle to get back in the game.

I am cozy and warm inside as the wood veneer/foam core hull has great insulation properties. If I were to build a high speed cruiser, I would have Schooner Creek use the very same construction as on this boat.

As a distraction to the pandemonium outside, I have been listening to bluegrass music and practicing guitar (in very short stints) between changing reefs, navigating, and writing reports. I love a very wide range of music, but am especially fond of bluegrass/folk and it's spinoffs. Quite a contrast to the breakers that crash over the outside of the boat now and then!

Coming soon: How the Coriolis effect works....

Later for now,

Bruce and Ocean Planet

Saturday, December 28, 2002 1330gmt

Position: 45 28S, 87 41E
Heading 105T, speed 12-15kts

Well the wind has finally filled in, and as you can see from the data above, Ocean Planet is on the move again!

It is too early to tell how much ground we will gain back on Emma and Simone but it may be a reasonable amount over the next couple days. Grammy on Hexagon has made a wise defensive move to the north to line up in front of me. He will be hard to catch for now, but I have already gained back about 50 miles on him.

Of course Bernard and Thierry are out of reach. They are in another class for now with the most experience and the most well-tested boats. But anything can happen past Australia and New Zealand.....

This is fun and fast sailing, in spite of the gray, rainy, and cool conditions. I have the working jib and main with third reef going and we are zipping along. Our little vestibule or "patio" sure is coming in handy, as I have both the jib sheet and mainsheet run into it so I can adjust the trim without having to gear up! In Cape Town we finally put on the bubble windows I have longed for and they are great.

I love to stand with my head in the bubble, nice and dry, watching the wild proceedings just outside. Sometimes white water will wash down the deck, up the face of the cabin and even over the bubble, which almost makes it seem like you're in an aquarium!

We have these tiny miniature shrimp (I guess they are krill) everywhere. They come aboard with the water and wind up in every sheet bag. If it gets warm out in a couple weeks the smell could be interesting! I wonder if Koji has tried them....;-)

As if sailing in the Southern Ocean isn't enough challenge, I've been trying to learn some flatpicking style guitar licks, but using my fingerpicking style to do it. I have a Tony Rice DVD given to me by supporter Eric Jungeman (another singlehanded sailor from California). It came with some sheet music, and it is pretty hilarious as I try to maintain my footing with the guitar as the boat careens along, trying to read the tiny notes and numbers which keep falling on the floor. I figure if I can learn anything this way it should stick with my fingers for a while!

Rockin' in the south Indian Ocean,
Bruce and Ocean Planet

Friday, December 27, 2002 1300gmt
Position: 43 48S, 81 58E

Several days ago there was a nasty storm predicted to hit the fleet near the Kergulen islands, so I made a turn to the north as a safety precaution so as to have more room above the notorious Kergulen banks...only to have that storm disappear in later weather models. Fortunately, our speed in heavy running got us back in touch with the fleet.

So, I was understandably skeptical when a few days later the Indian Ocean high was looking like it would establish itself south enough to be within reach of myself and Class 2 leader Brad. I was still north of the others so if the models came true it could be huge gain to latch onto while they fell into lighter air to the south. So I said no, I wasn't going to fall for it again and just take my licks with the others. But when the weather files from not one, not two, but THREE different sources agreed on the pattern the chance to leapfrog Graham, Emma, and Simone into third became a real possibility. I turned hard left, which wasn't easy at the time with 30+ kts on the beam. So did Brad behind me, proving once again that us humans can't resist the promise of a deal that seems too good to be true....

Once we were far enough north for there to be no escape the next weather files said "HA HA!" and pulled the delicious looking westerlies to the north of us further and further away...we were fooled again. GGRRRR!!! There was some recovery late yesterday and last night when we did get some good winds...I hardly dared to think it, but perhaps the situation was reverting back to the favorable one????? I salivated atthe thought, almost as much as I do for the new formulation of Mariner's Vitamins Prometan energy bars that I am rapidly consuming!

But early this morning I screeched to a near halt as a funky temporary high pressure set up to the southeast of me giving me light headwinds and very slow going. There are good winds coming later tonight with a big pattern that even the models hopefully can't miss, but too late to prevent a big loss of miles. Oh well, it's back to chasing again, and chasing hard as I DON'T want to be back here. Even though Graham has a good 350 or so mile lead, I really want to try to pull off a podium finish for this leg. It will be tough, but we have a long way to go. Sooner or later some luck will have to come in my direction, and I need to be ready to take advantage of it...

I did take advantage of the lighter air to work on a few of the many little details that pop up. Seemingly small things, however they could be costly or dangerous if not dealt with, Here are a few examples: as I was taking out a reef I noticed that several sail slides had been installed upside down with the nuts on the top instead of on the bottom and with no threadlocker on them and that they were unscrewing themselves; on the foredeck while lowering the light genoa (got to use it for 1/2 hour...), I found that the clevis pin holding the working jib stay and tack to the furler drum was working it's way out and had only 1/4 inch to go before it would be unsupported and bend the pin and furler (or worse....)! I also got out the tangled heavy reacher and wrestled with it a bit more, but no luck. I need a little lighter wind (nearly zero) to pull it up and untangle it.

Sure am glad I have my little guitar, When I get mad or frustrated I can pick it up a play a tune to relax, instead of starting to throw tools around....;-) After all, I'm warm and dry, on a fast boat that is easy to sail, have plenty to eat, so what more do I need?.

One potential emergency: I can't find the extra tubes of toothpaste that I know I bought, and I even remember bringing aboard in Cape Town! Where on earth did I put them?! Hopefully the will show up soon as I squeezed almost the very last out my last tube.....hope that I don't have to try the shampoo on my teeth, yuck!

Teeth..that reminds me of salivating, which reminds me again of the new Prometan bars that I can't stop eating. As a former biker racer who often practically lived off of energy bars that tasted like sugar and sawdust, I can tell that the all-natural but scientific new Prometan bars by Mariner's Vitamins/Intensive Nutrition are REALLY good. Please give them a try as you won't be disappointed. They'll taste as good as that Christmas candy you feel guilty about eating, but are good for you and give you a lift. Not a bad deal, eh? I hope I don't run out before New Zealand....

Sunday, December 22, 2002 1100gmt
Position: 42 11S, 57 19E
Heading 115-120T, speed 13-20kts.
Wind: Lots.

Wild day so far, after a wild night. As soon as it was light enough to see, I had a look around and had a few details to attend to: mainsheet bridle was caught behind the tiller head, the leeward safety bridle was wrapped around the GPS antenna (don't jibe!), the sail tie on the staysail hanks had gone missing (so the sail was trying to pull itself up), and a sheet bag on the boom for reef lines had blown out dumping the tail of the third reed line and others over the side. I could tell that at least today wasn't going to be boring.

Right after I got the bridle and safety fixed, I was pummeled by a big breaker knocking me across the cockpit into a leeward winch where I broke my fall with my right elbow. Ouch!! Good thing I was bundled with gear as that helped cushion it a bit. Then I went up to the mast and hurriedly pulled in and coiled up the lines that had gone dragging. Things were now secure and it was back below to clean up. About an hour later, I plotted the latest positions and it was obviously time to jibe as I suspected. It was tempting to avoid the jibe and continue north in search of less wind....but racing is racing so I drained the water ballast to the new side and it was back out for an exciting jibe.

The waves are worse on the new angle and we've had a couple of "spin-outs" so I'm not sailing as low (downwind) a course as I could be. Not worth a crash jibe after one of those big breakers hits us....;-) As it was, on one spin out about half of my food containers flipped over dumping their contents all over. It took a while to repack all that (this time the lids are locked!).

We are honkin along, that's for sure. If the wind angles hold as predicted, I should pass a couple boats. Tiscali has slowed way down He must be going bare poles and perhaps his main is messed up or he is being extra careful with Bernard's spare mast! Anyway, in about 6 to 10 hours it should start to let up a little. I just have to get through an area of 40-45 kts and squalls first. Stay tuned.

Saturday, December 21, 2002 1300gmt
Position: 43 24S, 50 51E
Heading 094T, Speed 11-20kts

This is where Ocean Planet shines. With the unstayed rig, I have up the main alone, 3rd reefed with the mast rotated and the sheet way out...no shrouds in the way! I can sail a very low course at high speed and in great control. The occasional breaker will knock us around a bit, but I just push a few times on the autopilot buttons and fine tune the heading. Of course, putting in the 3rd reef was exciting, but not so bad knowing that afterwards I could take off my wet gear in the"vestibule" and shake it out before going down below to hang them up to dry!

Down below I'm practically in a tropical paradise....Right now I'm in a t-shirt since I have the new heater going. I keep it dry down here because I can; I wipe up any water that comes in with my boots and keep towels under my gear to catch drips before the heater dries them out.

This is what we have been waiting for, the big breeze, and we are on the move. It is actually easier to sail in 35-40 kts than 20, since now I don't need a headsail! We could put up the staysail but it would just get backwinded behind the main on this low of a wind angle. I'm looking forward to the next schedule to get the positions....

We are further north than the others but this is where I want to be. Plenty of wind, a good jibe angle tomorrow, and the possibility of an upwind position if a coming low that the models predict might wind up north. It's always a bit of dice roll, but we'll see.

I did something today that I doubt any of the other skippers did. I washed my hair! Couldn't stand an itchy scalp any longer, and I have plenty of fresh water. I just stand in the companionway with my head in the vestibule and pour the water on my head. Too easy, but I wish the Spectra watermaker would warm up the water too...it's cold!

Just hit 21 knots! Some wild waves here! I do have to hold on as we rocket down them...

Which way to go? There is better wind to the south for now, but the jibe angles in a couple days may not be so good to get back north....which looks like what we should do due to a nasty low predicted to pound the fleet on the 24th and 25th. Merry xmas indeed...

I took advantage of a windshift to gybe north yesterday and made up some good miles on the others, but the latest grib (weather) files show that I am sort of trapped north now. If I gybe south now the angle is lousy, it will be better late tonight but the wind will likely be getting lighter up here by then.....aarrggghh. Anyway, I spend hours staring at this computer trying to solve the puzzle, but the bottom line is that I want to be north in a few days and make sure I don't get trapped under the storm. Looks like Thierry is thinking similar thoughts as he has split away from Bernard on a more northerly route also. Long way to go, but every mile counts....

I'm bummed that my heavy reacher, which to be my primary running sail for the southern ocean, is out of commission. It needs a heavier duty luff rope that won't twist, our first test rope of the new Samson Validator AT (anti twist) is good but too small in size. The torque loads on the roller sails are enormous when rolling them up in a blow. I could use the reacher right now, the working jib is too small and a genniker too risky....I just spent an hour at the mast staring and thinking about putting up the genniker, but opted out. Wisely, I think.

The weather is actually beautiful right now, sunny with birds careening about. Ocean Planet is moving well despite being undercanvased, I think she likes the waves here.

Well, we're off. Although not running yet, but rather beating in light and shifty air.

The last few days before the start were among the most stressful that I've ever had, but we made it. I was in a rough mood for much of the time, and I apologize to any and all that were unfortunate enough to be subjected to my frustration.

Ashley, Jason, and Steve had to fly out Thursday afternoon. They worked frantically until the last second, but we still had to finish assembling the new mainsail and battens, then install it on the boat. New local friends and last minute volunteers helped me finish things off, a big round of applause please to Glen Langston, Jannie, Chris, Gordon, Lucy, and all the others who pitched in! Thank heavens I wasn't in Simone's situation who arrived late with only about two days to prepare! He and his crew worked non-stop around the clock to get as ready as they could. Others that had last minute surprises included Brad & Tim. Brad, who had to get a stuck leech cord in his mainsail re-sewn started about 1 and half hours late, and I just got word that Tim left this morning, although I'm not sure what held him up. I'll drop him note and find out...

I was almost totally exhausted when we left the harbor. After the volunteer crew hoisted the main to the first reef and hopped off onto the inflatable pick-up boat, the wind picked up and I rushed to put in the second reef. I wound up a minute or so late at the start but quickly passed the class two boats and then Emma, who was shaking out a reef as the wind (of course) started to let up. Soon I had to take a reef out too as Emma caught back up. As soon as the wind seemed to be stable, I went down for a quick nap as I was starting to nod out on my feet, which I thought was rather dangerous. I was slowly passing Emma, who was about a half mile to weather. But a nap can be costly....

As (bad) luck would have it, Simone and I were caught in a windless hole that Emma just escaped. I tacked out away from shore and slowly got into better wind but Bernard, Theirry, Graham, and then Emma were on the horizon and got away. Simone looked really stuck in the dead spot as I sailed away from him.

But luck works both ways, and through the night I was able to work south and west, which should get me first into the WNW wind coming later today. We'll see how it works out. Time for another nap as it will be a few days before I'm fully recovered. I hope that someday I will get to start one of these races well rested!

Thanks to everyone who has donated to get me this far. We still have about $25k to raise to pay the immediate bills from Cape Town and all the equipment we had shipped there. If we can drum that up it will help get me to New Zealand without burning any important bridges with suppliers. In NZ we start all over again, and I'll try not to break anything expensive between here and there.

It is a flurry of activity on the docks here in Cape Town, as all of the boats madly prepare for the Saturday start. Simone Bianchetti has perhaps the most overwhelming task as he arrived just yesterday (he broke his mast and had to install a replacement in Spain!). Most of the other skippers and myself greeted him on the dock yesterday...he is one very happy Italian to have arrived on land.

We have several logistical obstacles as we wait for critical parts (like some new custom battens from Composite Engineering) to clear customs. Some other parts have not even yet arrived in South Africa, as some vendors didn't comprehend our pleas of urgency along with warnings about the customs delays, and then sent items late....

But we will make do! One example is that we wound up with the wrong adapters between our batten sliders and new batten receptacles, but fortunately a local machine shop is making us new ones. I hope they are done today so we can assemble the mainsail and test the sail tomorrow.

Thanks so much to all of you who have pitched in the last few days to get me going. Special thanks to Supplier Sponsor Intensive Nutrition, whose continuing support includes a batch of the latest Prometan Bars, and an additional new donation of $10,000! To all my supporters: please visit their website (www.intensivenutrition.com) and let them know how much I appreciate their help by ordering some great vitamins and/or Prometan Bars!! Please make their investment in me worthwhile.

Also thanks to recent (several are repeating!) contributors who have pitched in to get me going on Leg 3 (listed in no particular order).

Ayn Woodruff
Dan & Linda Newland
Rich Jones
Jim & Margaret Callahan
William Hoffman
Kaya Westling
Scot Lindblom
Stephen Washburn
James Rosman
Tom Thayer
Winton Cleary
Jocelyn Nash
Glenn & Paula Dewell
Brian Leary
Ashley Long
Ben Mewes
Randy Repass
Singlehanded Sailing Society (hi gang!)
Art Fowler
Svendsens Boat Works (my alma mater!)

I can't tell you how much I appreciate your support! We are about halfway to meeting my financial survival cost estimates for the next couple months, keep em coming if you can!

Heading back to the bilge . . . I'm almost finished with our system for transferring the spare diesel in our keel fuel tank to the primary tank . . . .a brilliant setup, if it works like I planned....

Ocean Planet is made possible by donations to The Made in America Foundation, and also by our suppliers: