Barcelona World Race 2007-2008

Barcelona World Race 2007
www.barcelonaworldrace.com - Übersicht

16.01.2007
Temenos II flashed at 35.4 knots

Gybe by gybe, Temenos II continues its course towards the legendary cape. Since this morning, the two co-skippers have been making southing. 700 miles from the Horn, Temenos II is slipping along downwind in a medium breeze. 230 miles behind them, the Spanish boat is putting up a better performance due to the arrival of a new front. In a good twelve or so hours, this new front should also catch up with Temenos II and enable it to pick up the pace as well. In the meantime though, we can expect to witness further concertina effects, this time to the benefit of the Spanish boat.

Even though the risk of ice is diminishing as they make easting, the radar watch continues aboard Temenos II. The sailing conditions are mild, a godsend for the duo who have had to proceed with replacing two broken indexsail battens as Michèle confirmed when contacted at the end of today.

“Yesterday evening we changed two broken battens in the rough weather. We had to fully drop the sail for a few hours in order to replace them. The wind had already dropped off quite a lot though so the repair went well. Today it’s grey and drizzly. The wind is blowing between 15 and 20 knots. It has shifted round slightly, so we gybed again southwards. Even though this isn’t a bad tack, we haven’t managed to get onto a direct course for the Horn yet in contrast to Mutua Madrilena, which is already on the other tack. A small front will catch up with us in around twelve hours and visibly our pursuers are already beginning to get hit by it. The wind is set to climb to between 25 and 30 knots and enable us to get to the Horn more rapidly. We should round it with a bit of wind on 19th January.

It’s pretty squally, but they aren‘t violent. We’re spending time at the helm, keeping an eye on the darker clouds. They are still generating a fair amount of force. Outside, it’s drizzling and it's very wet aboard. I have just spent 3 hours rooted to the helm, and even though we are more resistant to the cold than when we entered the Indian Ocean, I ended my watch with cold hands. At the moment conditions on deck are fairly dry. There is a wave from time to time, but it feels like it's just there to prevent us from getting out our fleeces. We're dreaming of the moment where we'll be able to take off our foulies. An albatross has been flying over the boat since this morning, but with the harsh conditions of recent days they had all disappeared. I think it’s one of the last we'll see.

Even though the wind has dropped off a lot since yesterday morning, there is still a fine swell. It’s rare to see the seas of the Southern Ocean calm down completely, even if there’s little wind. In this area there is always a low passing close by, which picks up the swell. When we left New Zealand, we reindexed stuck without wind for several days in a row, and with this swell it was very hard to get the boat making headway. By way of compensation, thanks to the swell, some of the surfing is magical. In the breeze you can feel the wave carrying you along and pushing you as much as the wind."

This long, powerful swell is surely no stranger to the new speed record recorded aboard the monohull. During the passage of the last front, Michèle saw the onboard speedo exceed the symbolic 30 knots repeatedly, with some frenzied surfs confirmed by the GPS. With 35.4 knots Temenos II has racked up a brand new record. Of note in the ‘high speed’ chapter of this Barcelona World Race, the average speed of 27.4 knots was held by the monohull for 30 minutes. Figures to set your head spinning and a perfect way to sum up a little of the magic of the Southern Ocean; surely just one of the reasons which push these sailors into coming back here…

Kate Jennings
Expression. P.O. Box 26, Dartmouth, DEVON. TQ6 0YG United Kingdom +44 (0)7795 116699