Posted by Graham Cox
The second week might have started quietly, with the Azores high drifting south across the fleet, but the wind came back with a bang on 21 January. The wind was initially from the north, but soon settled into a steady NE tradewind, although all boats report periods of choppy seas, overcast skies and squalls.
By 0200 UTC on 21 January, ORIGAMI had regained the lead, sailing marginally faster (5.9knts) than CAPUCINETTE (5.5kn), who was close alongside. Keri was probably hand steering, while Renaud was down below baking cakes. Dan Turk, on LITTLE BEA, was about 40 miles behind these two, averaging 4.4 knots, while BIGGEST MONKEY was coming up fast astern, doing 5.2 knots. Behind them, from north to south, Pilar on PETER Punk (5.3kn), Christian on ARGO (5.4kn), Adam on LITTLE WREN (4.6kn), John on DELJA 100 (4.3kn) and Dan Turner on IMMORTAL GAME (4.6kn), were pretty much in a straight line abreast (but well apart), all about 100 miles behind the two leading boats, with almost equal DTF statistics. To their NE, Jasmine on NUMBATOU (3.3kn) and Popeye (Mike) on DELJA 99 (4.7kn), were trailing the fleet.
Since then, Popeye has got his mojo on. At 0800 UTC on 21 January, after the wind kicked in, DELJA 99 was sailing at 5.1 knots, with two reefs in the main and the A7. He hand-steered all day before tucking a third reef in the mainsail at dusk, handing over the watch to his Hydrovane, but in a midnight text said he had just gone down to storm jib, afraid that he might break something.
After a wild night on storm jib, Popeye set his mainsail again with three reefs, plus the working jib. He hand-steered for about two hours to smooth out the ride, but then engaged the Hydrovane. Before the wind came back in, it had been hot, with 28℃ recorded in the cabin. His major problem seems to be an inability to sail the rhumb line to Antigua. He texted that he was having difficulty laying the course and was contemplating poling out his headsail, but has yet to make any significant southing.
Jasmine, having triumphantly hoisted her A3 at last, left it up all night, and posted a delightful, short video the following dawn, which showed her helping out the Hydrovane with one hand and eating noodles with the other. She is still sailing slower than the others, averaging around 4 knots, but holding a steady course on the rhumb line towards Antigua. She noted that it had been really squally at night, meaning lots of adjustments to the sails, being thrown around, and getting a regular drenching.
Renaud reported lots of wind, sailing with two reefs in the main and his A7. He had almost run out of fresh food, with just a couple of eggs and potatoes left. He had a very rough night, but still managed to post a photo of his dinner, consisting of cabbage with corned beef. By dawn on 22 January, CAPUCINETTE had once again taken the lead from ORIGAMI.
Aboard BIGGEST MONKEY, Niels wrote the following post. ‘I’ve got the rhythm right, now! I listen to a lot of music and have read way too many books in the time I’m not driving. I enjoy tuna crackers flavoured with Tabasco! Sleeping is also good, even though it’s like a washing machine. I put pillows and clothes on all sides so I don’t have to roll back and forth all the time. I’m having a good time!’ He has been steadily clawing back a few miles, and by the end of the week had moved up to 3rd place.
Dan Turk, on LITTLE BEA, had fallen back into 4th place, unable to sail as efficiently as he had previously, after falling backwards onto a block in the cockpit, which triggered the sciatic nerve in his right leg, leaving him in some pain and discomfort. He posted, ‘I need to make a sail change but it will have to wait until I am OK. I am comfortable and happy in the cabin, while the self-steering gear guides me along. Ya, and all of this while there are 15ft swells, and 4 to 6ft waves on top of that. Breeze of 25 to 30 knots… Good times!’
On ARGO, Christian posted that he was suffering from shoulder pain, which made sail handing more difficult. ‘I am trying to stretch and massage it, which sounds easier than it (actually) is on a small boat.’ Nonetheless, he remained upbeat. ‘Nice sailing conditions today. Got wet every time I went out for corrections last night. I am trying to keep one bunk free of salt, which is not so easy (and ARGO has the best spray dodger in the fleet).
He noted that he was having difficulty getting ARGO to self-steer at times, and was resorting to a lot of hand steering. Occasionally he got overtired and fell asleep without setting his alarm, which resulted in the boat going off-course, the cause of his somewhat erratic speed and course, as recorded on the Live Tracker. But he enjoyed pushing hard and surfing down waves at up to 14kn at times. ‘At night there is no moon,’ he said, ‘mostly cloudy, and therefore no stars. Not so easy to keep the course.’
One notable detail from Christian’s onboard video, shot during ARGO’s passage from Lagos to Lanzarote, is that he wore waterproof clothing (oilskins) and rubber gloves when boiling water in his Jetboil, a sensible precaution, as a serious scald alone at sea could easily lead to a medical emergency.
Pilar Pasanau, on PETER PUNK, has been a bit of a dark horse since the start, but eventually sent a few brief messages. ‘Two nights ago, it was hard. The wind was changing all the time in direction and speed. A lot changes of sails. I have taken a shower and eat well. I will try to sleep more hours. It is like a washing machine.’ PETER PUNK had moved up into 5th position, still some way off to the north, but on a converging course with the leaders.
Adam on LITTLE WREN was in 6th position, not far off the leader’s pace, despite his damaged ribs stopping him from making frequent sail changes. He was frustrated by this, but remained determined to do his best. John Blenkinsop on DELJA 100 was steadily closing up with both LITTLE WREN and ARGO, his average speed being consistently higher than theirs.
IMMORTAL GAME and BIBI were duelling for the next ranking, though BIBI was sailing faster at times. Dan Turner sent a weather update at 0800 UTC on 24 January, stating, ‘20-25 knot wind from the NE, with 3 to 4m seas. At times the seas can be bigger. There are stronger breezes coming through the clouds, presenting rain and squalls. IMMORTAL GAME is managing these well. I am eating well and feeling mentally well, knowing that on Sunday I will be over half way, and I am getting excited for my wife’s birthday!’
Later, as the boisterous conditions continued, Dan mentioned that he was suffering from a lack of sleep and feeling sea sick. After a squall tangled his sails, forcing him to reset them, he had a brief emotional crisis, feeling he wasn’t doing well enough. This was quickly resolved by a talk with his wife and manager, Nikki Jade, who was also celebrating her birthday, something that no doubt added to Dan’s turmoil. Anyone who has read his fascinating memoir, From Sands to Sea, will know that he has a refreshing emotional honesty, combined with a determination never to give up!
That evening, Renaud wrote, ‘A good 25 knots of breeze. The waves are a bit in all directions, on a nice swell from the NNE. It swings quite well in CAPUCINETTE, and it’s not easy to go fast.’ (Could have fooled us!)
Very little has been heard from Keri Harris on board ORIGAMI since he departed Lanzarote (too busy hand-steering perhaps?) but this week, his manager, Sydney Wareham, sent the following message: ‘Keri is having fun and enjoying getting to grips with how the boat handles in various sea states and wind strengths. Currently on an A7 with two reefs in the main. Yesterday he was just going to sleep on his bunk when he was woken by something landing on his chest. It turned out to be a flying fish, or Exocet, that had jumped from the sea through the hatch and came down below. He quickly scooped it up and threw it back into the sea.’
At 2200 UTC on 25 January, John Blenkinsop reported that he had lost DELJA 100’s jib halyard, when the halyard shackle, which he’d forgotten to mouse, came undone, and the sail fell down. He then fitted hanks to the sail and hoisted it on the end of the bowsprit, using one spinnaker halyard as a temporary forestay and the other to hoist the sail. On the 27th, he reported that he’d recovered the furler’s swivel fitting, which had been stuck up the mast, using a boathook lashed to a halyard with a downhaul. The furler unit was back in commission, the jib back on the foil, and DEJA 100 back in the hunt.
Niels Kamphuis continued to maintain impressive speeds, with BIGGEST MONKEY often the fastest in the fleet. On 25 January, he wrote, ‘Beautiful sailing conditions! Lots of wind, good waves and sun! If someone could take the squalls out of the equation that would be great! I am really enjoying myself here in the middle of the ocean. Still relaxed and reading a very interesting book, “How to Hug a Porcupine” (about how to love difficult people). The tradewinds are pretty consistent for the coming days, so no worries about that. The boat sails easy, the secret is weight balancing. The only thing that bothers me is my lack of luck in choosing a delicious freeze-dried meal… bah!’
This week, the sat-phone calls were patchy, as all entrants were sailing in fresh tradewinds, with frequent squalls which seemed to affect audio reception. Unfortunately, much of Christian Sauer’s commentary was lost to static. He was pretty close to Adam on LITTLE WREN, though not in visual range, and they had talked over VHF radio. Hand-steering was making him tired, and he fell asleep at least once without setting his alarm clock, allowing ARGO to sail off in the wrong direction while he slept. Asked if he had any goose barnacles or weed on the hull, he said it was too rough to look!
Keri was also sailing in squalls, though he sounded cheerful. Unfortunately, seawater had splashed his phone and it wasn’t working well. He had to do a lot of hand-steering, as his windvane was damaged, and the autopilot could not cope with the conditions if he wanted to sail fast. He was trying to stay with Renaud, and that meant doing without much sleep. He seemed to indicate that he didn’t need much, but was concerned about managing fatigue levels until ORIGAMI reached Antigua.
Adam’s phone call, by contrast with the first two, was clear, even though he was also sailing in squalls, at least one of which rolled over LITTLE WREN while he was on the phone. He said the winds were frequently up to 30-35 knots in the squalls. Although he hadn’t had a knockdown, he’d come close. He usually triple-reefed the main when they approached, or dumped it altogether if the sky looked really dark, and just ran on under headsails.
His ribs were not as sore as they had been, though that was partially because of painkillers, which made him feel a little sick. He was trying to limit movement, and consequently doing as few sail changes as possible. He did not fly the A3 or A5, relying instead on a reefed mainsail and the jib. At the time of the phone call, he was also flying his storm jib off the bowsprit, to give a little more speed and directional stability without doing too much foredeck work. Luckily, his South Atlantic windvane was working well, meaning he could leave the boat to its own devices and rest in the cabin.
He was able to sleep on his back, and had been doing a fair bit of that, since resting aided healing. He was also reading a fair bit, but had little appetite, so wasn’t eating a lot. He mentioned that he loved sardines, however, and could happily eat them all day, which is a great plus for a long-distance sailor. He mixed them with rice, or had them with crackers, and also had some tinned vegetables, plus various canned meats.
He felt relaxed about sleeping and spending most of his time below, because he was well out of the shipping lanes and did not see other boat traffic. He always had the AIS and Echomax operating. The latter picked up radar signals from 20-30 miles distant. ARGO and DELJA 100 were quite close, about 10 miles away, but not in visual range. They had chatted on VHF radio, and Adam said it was nice to have company.
The inside of LITTLE WREN was dry, and he’d had no water come below, largely because he had an effective dodger, but that nonetheless everything was becoming sticky with salt after two weeks at sea.
His fresh water consumption was going well, with more than 50 litres left. LITTLE WREN has a saltwater pump in the galley, which he uses for washing dishes, and also uses a little for cooking. For personal hygiene, he rinses off with buckets of seawater. Doing this was much pleasanter now that the temperatures had risen to 26℃ – it was only 20℃ when they set off from Lanzarote. His skin is healthy, and one reason is that he only wears swimming trunks, avoiding the chafe of wet clothes.
By way of contrast, Jakub, on BIBI, texted that he had a serious rash on his bottom, caused by wearing wet clothes, and was now sitting on baby diapers, a packet of which had been given to him by someone in Lanzarote who knew how useful they could be.
Apart from the occasion when Adam’s A3 partially unfurled during a squall in the middle of the night, as reported earlier, his only problem has been losing a spinnaker pole. He brought it back to the cockpit to do a minor repair, thinking it would be safer to work on the pole there, when a large wave broke aboard and swept it away. He is now having to broad-reach, or sail angles, rather than head directly downwind. This was disappointing, as running with his twin jibs poled out had been a part of his downwind strategy.
He had not checked the bottom of the boat for growth, but noted that LITTLE WREN has epoxy Coppercoat on the bottom. It will be interesting to compare this coating after the crossing with other 580s which have traditional wet antifouling paint applied. When the boats are lifted out of the water in Panama, he will reactivate the copper coating by scouring it with abrasive material.
Asked if he wished to say something in conclusion, he mentioned the Ella Dawson Foundation, (https://www.elladawsonfoundation.org.uk/) a charity he supports that helps young adult cancer patients in the UK. Despite feeling unwell, and being frustrated that he could not sail the boat efficiently, Adam’s usual equanimity was very much in evidence.
Dan Turk was also displaying his customary sangfroid, despite injury. For the first few days after he fell backwards and damaged his sciatic nerve, he was just dragging his weight around. The pain had eased a bit now and he could lie down OK. Sitting remained painful.
LITTLE BEA was sailing in heavy tradewinds, mostly about 25 knots during the day, but at night he had regular squalls, mostly only bringing 5-10 knots more wind, but making things difficult. One had just come through before his call. He said that these squalls were aggravated by the sea-state of 3-4 metres, with cross seas of 1.5 metres which slapped the boat around and made it difficult to stay on course at times. He usually had some mainsail up, with either the A7 or the jib flying, though the mainsail was up and down a fair bit.
His Sailomat windvane self-steering unit was working well, though it took some time to remember how to optimise it, or fly the vane, but it was doing almost all the work now. During his North Atlantic crossing, the wind had been predominantly forward of the beam. Now it was predominantly aft, and he found that it was a different game. However, he knows LITTLE BEA well, and balancing the boat is second nature. He pointed out that the vane cannot anticipate things the way a person can, which is why hand-steering is always a bit faster. Given that he now finds it painful to sit down, he lets the windvane do all the work, even if he is sailing half a knot slower than the leading three boats.
LITTLE BEA has remained dry inside, though Dan mentions that small boats are a bit damp on passage (due to the salt-laden air). He also made a mistake on the day before his call. It was a nice, sunny day, so he put his bedding near the open hatch to air, and a rogue wave came along and wet everything.
Because he can only lie down when not tending to the boat, he continues to get enough rest, and is reading a lot. He has also been listening to music and chatting on WhatsApp with several other 580 skippers. They have been amusing each other and sharing music, etc. He says it has been a lot of fun and he is thoroughly enjoying life on the ocean.
He has plenty of water left and even contemplated dumping some, but decided not to in case he gets becalmed before the finish. He goes through about four litres a day, mostly for consumption, but uses a little for sponge baths. He has had no issues with his skin, apart from a bit of wear and tear on his fingers from handling lines.
He gets weather information from Windy, though notes that it is all straightforward now, and there is nothing much to look at, weatherwise. He also mentioned that another yacht (not one of the 580s) had been near him all the previous night. He tried to contact them, and maybe get a weather update, but they never responded.
Dan also has Coppercoat on LITTLE BEA and thinks the bottom will be fairly clean, though he hasn’t looked. He has few maintenance issues to address in Antigua, apart from repairing or replacing a solar panel. He is down to one 100-watt panel, but runs a lean ship, briefly switching on his chart plotter once every four hours or so. At night, apart from LED navigation lights, all he runs is his AIS and Echomax.
He said he was looking forward to a cold beer, then maybe some of Antigua’s sweet rum soon after arrival, as well as revisiting the island, where he’d enjoyed time with his family in 2018. It won’t be long now, with less than 1000 miles to go.
Niels Kamphuis, on LITTLE MONKEY, was also experiencing regular squalls, and at times that made handling the boat challenging. One squall had just come through at 50 knots or so. Most of the time, his windvane was steering the boat, though he took over the tiller sometimes for fun, when the seas were up and LITTLE MONKEY was surfing on the crests.
He often sailed with the A5 and the double-reefed main, as he was during the call, but sometimes went down to the jib. He occasionally set his A3, but usually went back to the A5 due to gusty conditions. When the wind angles made it possible, he sailed with his A7 poled out opposite the jib. The only repair needed so far was to reinforce the spinnaker pole end-fittings with rope, as they were showing signs of fatigue.
He wasn’t eating much, as he didn’t feel hungry, though mentioned snacking on sardines and chocolate (perhaps not at the same time). He’d earlier commented on a lack of enthusiasm when confronted by another freeze-dried meal. He had a fair bit of fruit juice which he enjoyed, and his water supplies were adequate.
The day before his call, he’d felt lazy, and just lay around reading all day. That annoyed him though, and the next morning he was up and about again, keeping the boat sailing fast. He says the thing he is most looking forward to on arrival in Antigua is a good meal. If he is not first home, then he won’t be far behind Renaud on CAPUCINETTE and Keri on ORIGAMI.
Pilar missed her scheduled call but made contact later. The call was brief, due to a language barrier, but she made the following statement. ‘Now I have 20 or more knots of wind. The swell is 3 meters, more or less. It’s not easy to get ahead with this boat because it normally sails like a snake, like a reptile. My maximum speed was 13 knots. I think I am sailing very fast, and my intention is to catch up with the leading boats. Today, this morning, I furled the mainsail because I am exhausted, and need to rest. At night the motion is too bad to sleep. And now I go to sleep, if possible, for 2-3 hours.’
And so, the drag race continues, with the leading five or six boats closing up with each other as their courses converge towards Antigua. This front pack will be there next week, to complete the fastest 580 transatlantic race on record.
