22.02.2004
566 miles - average 23.6 kts over past 24 hours
Cheyenne piles on the miles as Fossett and crew face wind, sea - and some electrical challenges
Now 438 nm ahead of Orange's 2002 position
Sunday 22 February 2004 - 0510 GMT - 141 nm W/SW of Gough Island (ppltn 0): Pushed by strong westerlies generated as the High pressure system to the North meets the pack of cold air from the Antarctic to the South, Steve Fossett and Cheyenne drove along the 'southern highway' towards the Cape of Good Hope on Saturday, covering 566 miles at an average speed of 23.6 kts, keeping them ahead of the 2002 RTW record track of Orange by over 430 nm. They are now just under 1400 nm from the longitude of the Cape.
Saturday's run is by far Cheyenne's best 24 hours yet on this record attempt, and was highlighted by a potentially serious on-board electrical problem in the afternoon. Steve Fossett describes the problem - and the fix:
"Our sailing instrumentation system shorted out at 5 pm this afternoon. All we had left was a compass and the wind vane at the top of the mast -- just like what sailors of old had. In modern sailing we have become dependent on an arsenal of information including wind speed, direction, boat speed, wind angles and more. In fact I can't imagine the handicaps of sailing in the Southern Ocean and competing for the record without instruments. Some of the crew gamely said we could.
Fortunately, solutions were found. Adrienne and Nick found the source of shorting and sealed the wet connections. Dave Scully replaced the destroyed power converter by wiring in my little laptop converter. It was a six hour project - but what a relief the repairs could be made and our attempt is not jeopardized."
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