Jerry Kirby in deep thought, onboard PUMA Ocean Racing, on leg 5 of the Volvo Ocean Race, from Qingdao to Rio de Janeiro. Image copyright Rick Deppe/PUMA Ocean Racing/Volvo Ocean Race.
by Kenny Read (skipper)
What a difference a day makes.
Constant losses to the two guys in front as they sailed away in more pressure made the mood on PUMA's IL Mostro frustrated to say the least.
Well, give a group of sailors a few winning position reports in a row and the mood changes quickly. It appears to be our turn for at least a short time, to reel in some miles as the two leaders begin to sail in some lighter winds. We have a few nice sail combinations in these conditions and we are blazing off the miles. Feels good to be heading straight at the mark at an average of about 22 knots. And back to winning scheds!
We also had a bit of a milestone today. Capey (Andrew Cape – navigator) brought out the paper chart for Cape Horn! Big move, seeing it is still over 2000 miles away.
Anyway, it is our next landmark and as is his custom, he has the old school paper chart on the nav station desk just in case it is needed. It is a phenomenal place on paper anyway. Tons of islands on the Chile and Argentinean coasts. Look forward to seeing it, and having it in the rear view mirror. Until then we should have some nice sailing to the ice point then a day or so on the breeze to get to a front that should quickly sweep us to the Horn. Sounds good now, but there are a million weather variations that could happen between here and there.
On board all is simply damp. A huge amount of condensation below. All of our clothes are wet, the interior is wet, and the bunks are wet. Fortunately our friends at PUMA supplied us with the layering system that keeps us warm in these horribly damp conditions. And really nice dry bags that keep unused clothing dry.
Man does that feel good to peel off a damp layer and put on a nice fresh dry one. Not many of those left though. But the fact is our world is just down-right soaked. And it doesn't look like much of a dry cycle coming in the near future. But power reaching has its advantages, like knowing that you are high-balling towards the mark. And as I look up on the nav screen, we are literally pointing straight at the mark which is 374 miles away.
Skipper Ken Read grinding, onboard PUMA Ocean Racing, on leg 5 of the Volvo Ocean Race, from Qingdao to Rio de Janeiro. Image copyright Rick Deppe/PUMA Ocean Racing/Volvo Ocean Race.
Physically we are all commenting how skinny each other looks and it is interesting how you can especially feel your legs getting weaker being in such a confined space for days and weeks on end. Hopefully we won't look like one of those NASA Apollo mission completions when the astronaut got out of the capsule and had to be helped just to walk. Don't think it will be that bad, but it is a fact of our lives none the less. Santi, our physio and work out guru, is going to have to do some quick magic in our short stopover in Rio.
Another hour to the next position report. It sure is more fun to report good scheds to the boys on deck than it is to report bad ones.
Volvo Ocean Race
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