21.03.2009
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LEG 5 DAY 36
Rick Deppe here. I am the guest author today for the official "quote from
the boat". Kenny has asked me to fill in for him. He's been laid up with
a bad stomach.
One thing is for sure, it's not from over eating! We are slowly starting
to move into a rationing situation. The food was planned out for a 36 day
leg. Day 36 is today! Add to that the fact we had a strangely
contaminated batch of food on one of the earlier days so essentially,
today is our last day of regular food. Starting tomorrow we're into the
emergency bags containing lots of protein powder and cereal.
No one is going to die of starvation but it's not going to be much fun
either- definitely not an ideal situation. For sure one thing we could do
without in terms of bringing our "A" game to the final push to the finish.
I'm sure we'll be well taken care of when we arrive in Rio. Just how
well and with what is the topic of much conversation on these seemingly
endless four hour watches? One worrying question that has been raised;
after six weeks of freeze dried "mush" will our bodies even be able to
handle one of those big South American steaks or the first cold beer? Only
one way to find out...get there and give it a try
Andrew Cape told me yesterday that, "It's a big ocean, but it is getting
smaller". Onboard il mostro it is starting to feel as though we are
running out of time and opportunities to catch the E's, who are
respectively about 200 and 100 miles ahead of us. Unfortunately, they sit
between us and the finish. Right now, in simple terms, they just sail
into everything before us. They sail into a light patch and we catch up
some miles, they get through the light patch and the mileage stabilizes,
then we sail into the light patch and they gain some miles. At the moment
it’s looking like a few more hundred miles of this and then a straight
shot into Rio. Very frustrating, and with every three hour sched the
ocean definitely gets a bit smaller.
- Rick
For more information on Puma Ocean Racing, please contact:
Bridgid Murphy or Kate Fairclough - PUMA Ocean Racing
Tel: +1 978 996 5155 or +44 7827 277 517
bridgid.murphy@puma.com or kate.fairclough@puma.com
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