Posted by Graham Cox
Eric Hiscock, formerly the doyen of ocean voyagers, once wrote that he spent more time running under bare poles in the Caribbean Sea than anywhere else in the world. The winter tradewind funnels down into the isthmus of Panama, and when opposed by fierce ocean currents, can create rough seas. The first week of the MGR was blessed with lighter than usual conditions, allowing the 580s to set a blistering pace, but as they approached the notorious headland of Barranquilla, off the coast of Columbia, contrary currents kicked up boisterous seas, though mercifully the wind remained moderate.
Renaud Stitelmann, on CAPUCINETTE, continued to set the pace, leading the pack all the way, while managing to make it look like a walk in the park. His latest culinary creation, posted online, was a banana cake – although a little lopsided, it looked delicious. As usual, he looked unassailable.
Keri Harris was clinging to Renaud’s coat-tails, and on the fifth day, halfway to Panama, ORIGAMI was only 8 miles astern, despite not having a mechanical self-steering gear, meaning Keri was doing a huge amount of hand-steering, and presumably getting little sleep. Hopefully, his home-made cushion – a piece of yoga mat – was effective, as he mentioned before the start that sitting on the hard deck most of the day crossing the Atlantic had given him a sore bum. He failed to make his scheduled sat-phone call on this leg, so we never did find out how his bum was faring.
Dan Turk, on LITTLE BEA, has pushed hard on this leg, working his way up to 3rd place, and had perhaps the most exciting week. He wrote the following on social media: ‘I have managed consistent daily gains to move into 3rd place, with distances of 143 nm per day on average. I am happy with that, as Johnny G (windvane) has been doing all of the work, except for the first 8 hours of the race when I hand-steered. I have settled into a routine of cooking, navigating, chatting with other competitors, friends and family, and of course getting some naps in.
‘Two days ago, some drama unfolded, as LITTLE BEA came to a near halt while sailing at 6 knots. I was sending an audio message to Holly when I crashed into something in the water, which we think must have been a small whale. It was quite an impact, throwing me against the galley cabinet, with all loose stuff flying forward. It was all over as fast as it happened – the boat seemed to flounder for 30 seconds or a minute before it built speed back up. There was no water intrusion or visible damage. I am curious to look at her bottom when she is hauled out in Colon. I guess you just never know what could happen out here.’
When asked what had contributed to his sudden increase in performance, which saw him briefly move into 2nd place, before ORIGAMI squeezed through again, Dan just laughed and said, ‘Nothing terribly special, just concentrating on sail trim, and because I’m steering straight with my wind vane.’ He had tried a number of sail combinations, including the A7 poled out opposite the jib, plus a bit of mainsail when the wind eased off. At the time of his sat-phone call to Graham, the wind was easing and he was considering putting up the A3.
He said that his bodyweight affected the boat’s balance, noting that he represented about 10% of the total displacement, but unlike some of the other entrants, did not move gear and stores around the boat much, relying instead of having it all stored as deep within the hull as possible. This strategy was obviously working, for LITTLE BEA recently covered 143 miles in a 24-hour period.
Like several entrants, he reported rough seas the night before, no doubt a result of contrary currents. ‘Last night was pretty tough, I was in some crazy current. There were four or five breaking waves that just covered the whole boat from all angles. One off the stern, one off the back, one off the starboard side, just big rollers. It was a really, really weird situation. Obviously, you can’t see anything at night. The only sail I could manage to get up was a poled-out jib.’
Besides his collision, Canada Dan also had some other wildlife interactions. A tame bird visited, even sitting on his hand at one point, looking like it had adopted him, or perhaps it was hoping for a feed. He was also trailed by a small shark for a while, that swam along behind the boat, about four feet aft of the rudder. Luckily for Dan, it did not bite the rudder!
On this leg, the other Dan, Aussie Dan Turner, captain of IMMORTAL GAME, has shown a remarkable improvement in performance since the Globe Transat. It is hard to know whether he was just foxing during the transatlantic race, keeping his powder dry, or whether the improvements he made in Antigua account for his increased speed. He was consistently up with the front pack, holding 3rd position for a while, until Canada Dan put the pedal to the metal and squeezed past, relegating IMMORTAL GAME to 4th position, about 14 miles astern.
Aussie Dan said that moving his solar panels, to allow the Hydrovane’s windvane full articulation, combined with re-installing his main rudder and replacing his lost daggerboard, had dramatically improved the boat’s ability to self-steer off the wind, freeing him up to concentrate on sailing the boat. He only replaced one daggerboard, as the Hydrovane is now offset to one side. He has been experimenting with sail combinations, frequently setting his headsails wing and wing, often without the mainsail unless winds were light.
In his fortnightly sat-phone call (albeit a couple of days late), he talked about the physical and psychological differences between sailing alone in the MGR and the double-handed Melbourne to Osaka race he previously completed. Besides the obvious issue of having to do it all oneself, from sail-changing, to cooking, repairs and watch-keeping, he mentioned that knowing you had a good partner holding down the deck when off watch allows you to relax. Sailing alone, he always felt a bit on edge.
Getting used to the size and motion of the 580 at sea was another challenge. The motion is often quite wild, and even in moderate conditions can present a challenge. On this leg, for instance, the wind and seas were on the beam at times, requiring renewed experimentation with weight distribution and sail trim to keep the boat moving fast.
Dan admits that he does not always wear his harness, especially in the cockpit, though puts it on when going forward at night. He was aware that it would only take one steep wave to knock IMMORTAL GAME down, and had even wondered how much it might take to capsize a 580, especially if a breaking wave caught the boat on the beam. Not that he was worried about the boat’s ultimate seaworthiness, or self-righting ability. The 580’s robust construction, along with watertight compartments and hatches, make it one of the safest of voyaging yachts, if not the most comfortable or spacious.
However, losing the mast could be a game-changer. This nearly came to pass a day after his chat with Graham, when the turnbuckle on his forestay came adrift, leaving the sail flailing around, and the mast only supported by the inner forestay. After a hurried consultation with his shore team, he jury-rigged the mast with a spare halyard, thankful that IMMORTAL GAME should be sailing downwind all the way to Panama. He hand-steered for a long period after this, as the weather was scrappy, and he was fearful of a broach. He also discovered a crack in his spreaders. COCUNUT just happened to be nearby, and Mark Sinclair escorted him while he was setting up his jury rig, though he did not require assistance.
Another entrant whose performance is much improved since the Atlantic crossing is Jasmine Harrison. For quite some time, NUMBATOU was holding position in 8th place. Although Jasmine then slipped back, she continues to maintain good speed, and often flies her kites when conditions allow, as was demonstrated shortly after the start in Antigua. The sail-shy young woman who set out from Lagos is long-gone.
Halfway across the Caribbean Sea, her shore team (Mum) reported: ‘Jasmine is flying at the moment! Yesterday the wind was really strong, meaning she was getting randomly overpowered, so had lots of sail changes, from main, to pink spinnaker, to two jibs and various combinations. Now the pink spinnaker is up again and speed is 5.5kn. She got some sleep overnight, which was nice. Erik, the Hydrovane, has been holding course well, allowing time for food (tuna and avocado wraps) and some phone calls.
‘Heading into this evening, she’s hand-steering for extra speed, and when it’s time for some rest she’ll furl the spinnaker and hand back over to Erik! Tonight, and tomorrow, just after sunset, she’s going to look out for the planetary parade. Apparently, clear skies and a good view of the horizon are essential.’
On the 8th day, with just 250 miles left to Panama, Jasmine’s Mum reported: ‘Yesterday the wind and the waves were strong, up to 4m high, and initially on the beam, meaning Jasmine was getting thrown around quite a bit. The challenge was to settle on a sail plan, and in the end, she opted for just the jib, as she didn’t want to get overpowered – and was still going at over 4 knots.’ Jasmine was also visited by a similar bird to the one that landed on LITTLE BEA, equally tame, and the beam winds saw the decks inundated with flying fish. Whether she ate them or not was not recorded.
Popeye reported that he’d found the start of the MGR difficult, with a sleepless first night. There were lots of ships to dodge, including a cargo ship that cut through the middle of the MGR fleet and appeared to be on a collision course. He had to call it on the VHF radio and ask its intentions. As a result, he reduced sail to just the jib, putting him once again at the back of the fleet. Later, he managed to get more sail up and work his way into 12th place, though has now slipped back into his regular spot.
Having gone from 65kg to 55kg body-weight during the transatlantic crossing, he was determined to eat more on this leg, hoping that placing his Jetboil cooker outside in the cockpit might make it easier to rustle up a meal, though mentioned that he was eating instant noodles. He was dreaming of boiled eggs. He noted that it was 31℃ in the cabin, so opened the main and central hatches, only to have a wave come aboard and drench everything. He also shifted 40kg of water up to the windward side to steady the boat, but when he moved back into the cockpit, DELJA 99 immediately veered off. The boat, he noted, is extremely sensitive to weight distribution.
Adam Waugh had an interesting week, having chosen to sail well north of the rest of the fleet, with the deliberate intention of hooking into the favourable, west-setting current shown on weather maps like Windy. He noted that he was used to working tidal streams in home waters. As a result, he was averaging over 7 knots at times, and managed the fastest 24-hour run yet recorded by a 580, a very respectable 163 miles, noon to noon.
It will be interesting to see, during the course of the MGR, if one of the 580s can surpass John Guzzwell’s record, set in June 1959, of 192 miles over a period of 25 hours, a performance that was boosted by the South Pacific Equatorial Current. TREKKA was barrelling along before the SE trades west of the Galapagos Islands under twin jibs, with sheets led to the tiller, and a small symmetrical spinnaker set above them. The boat was largely self-steering, though John did take the helm for a while, to steady the course, as every now and then TREKKA would veer off, collapsing the spinnaker, which would refill with a bang that threatened to pull the stick out of the boat.
Adam hoped to keep the favourable winds and currents with him all the way to Panama. ‘I’d forgotten how nice sailing is without broken ribs,’ he joked. ‘It’s been really, really enjoyable being able to move around the boat, in and out of the cabin into the cockpit, and move around the deck and change sails when needed. My maneuverability is a lot better than it was, and therefore sail changes that you thought you might not do, now you do, and that makes all the difference.’
He did most deck-work on his hands and knees, occasionally on his feet. He was a bit more cautious after breaking his ribs, but said that muscle-memory kicks in, and you just do what you’ve done before, especially when getting on and off the deck.
He was sailing under twin headsails most of the time, rarely using the mainsail, triple-reefing it if he did. Sometimes he set twin jibs, but often, as on the day of his call, had the A7 poled out opposite the A5. This had been the original plan of action before the ocean swallowed one of his poles during the Atlantic crossing. The South Atlantic windvane was coping well with the steering, though he did revert to autopilot for a short while, due to an alignment problem with the vane gear, until it was resolved.
The sea state was very comfortable, with about 1-1.5m metre swells, and LITTLE WREN was flying along, aided by two knots of favourable current. Adam has been using the settled weather to practice sextant sights, getting up to three position lines a day. He wedges himself into a corner of the cockpit, using a trick that Captain Coconut showed him – pre-calculating the height of the sun’s lower limb above the horizon, and pre-setting the sextant accordingly, rather than trying to bring the sun’s image down to the horizon with the index arm. If you try the latter in a small, lively boat, you can end up chasing the sun’s image all over the ocean.
He was sleeping well, setting his alarm for every two hours during the night, though said that there had not been much shipping, averaging one a night. He usually woke up before the alarm rang. This relaxed routine had been helped by the lack of squalls, apart from the second night out. He had used up most of his fresh food and was back to staples, but given his liking for tinned sardines, that was not much of an issue. He ate two tins on the day he called.
There was not much work to do in Panama, apart from repairing the cases for his daggerboards once again. They came apart during the Atlantic crossing, and the repairs done in Antigua have not held up. He said that the daggerboards were a great help with directional stability when sailing off the wind. As he approached Panama, he reported a slight increase in shipping traffic, with 3-4 contacts overnight. Progress slowed as sargassum weed built up on the rudder and daggerboards, requiring an early morning clean-up. The wind also eased, necessitating a sail change – down with the twin jibs, and up with the A5 & A3 set wing and wing.
Christian Sauer, like all the entrants sailing a more southerly course than Adam on this leg, seemed to have had a rougher ride at times. Things were not helped by ongoing issues with managing his self-steering gear. He had not used one of these units before setting off from Europe on ARGO, and feels that he still has a lot to learn about getting the most from it. After some fiddling, he would get the unit working well, but all it took was one wave to smack into the boat, particularly from the side, and knock the boat off course; then the vane gear would not be able to bring ARGO back without Christian assisting. One night, to his frustration, he lost a few miles while sleeping, when ARGO headed NW.
Being a large man, weighing some 100kg, doesn’t help, as moving around, going below etc, alters the balance of the boat. He’s been experimenting with weight distribution, finding that downwind it was best to have the weight spread around, while if it was more out on the beam, he stacks some of it to windward. Sharing the windward bunk with various items stacked there is not always the most comfortable experience, but is just a part of the lifestyle.
He was not using his mainsail much, just hoisting a little at times to steady the motion, while relying mostly on twin headsails, like the A7 poled out opposite the A5. Since he changed the headsail hanks for Dyneema shackles, he has not suffered the damage to sailcloth he experienced in the Atlantic, though the headsail track has lost its plastic insert which holds the batten cars in place, and they are falling out, another repair job for Panama.
He has not noticed much current, though one wild night, when he was being thrown around inside the boat, with waves breaking on deck from both sides, may have been caused by a contrary current. Despite his problems, Christian is managing a respectable speed, with ARGO holding onto 6th place, and he is enjoying himself. He mostly eats reconstituted dried meals, though enjoys homemade porridge for breakfast. He only has a Jetboil on this leg, though has another stove that needs fitting.
Josh Kali continues to have a good time on SKOOKUM. He is still near the back of the fleet but is getting faster as he develops his downwind strategies. He posted: ‘Averaged 5.8kts last night – that’s my best yet – and good enough to match Renaud the Swiss machine up in the lead! Getting faster! Toasted with a bit of fine Antigua rum! Cheers and Salud!’
For Pilar Pasanau, the passage to Panama has been difficult, as she contracted a serious stomach complaint shortly after the start, badly affecting her ability to campaign PETER PUNK in her normally competitive manner. Trailing in 11th position, she would normally be in the leading pack. She said that perhaps she had worked too hard in Antigua, preparing for the MGR and looking for sponsors, or maybe partied too hard, leaving her a bit run down and nervous at the start.
On top of this, she has developed major problems with her communication systems, leaving her without data, apart from occasional sat-phone calls. In a brief call to Graham, she said she was feeling better, looking forward to maybe improving her position in the fleet, and to enjoying the rest of the sail to Panama.
Eric Marsh, campaigning SUNBEAR, started out at the back of the fleet, since the leg to Panama was his first downwind sail on a 580, having previously beat to windward for 25 days to get to the start line. He chose not to fly his A3 at the start, unlike a number of others, estimating that he lost about 40 miles as a consequence, but preferred to ease his way into the passage. He has set it since then, during the day, along with the A5, but often just has a double-reefed main hoisted, along with the jib poled out, finding he is still managing 5-6 knots most of the time.
His windvane has been doing all the steering, while he just sits and watches the numbers, or adjusts the sails to keep his average speed up. Eric, after all, is a veteran ocean racer. His benchmark is 5 knots – as long as he is doing 5 knots, or 120 miles a day, he is happy. His intention is not to push the boat too hard, at least on this leg, and as a result nothing has broken and there are no jobs on the worklist for Panama.
He said he was still a little tired, and his hands still sore, from the marathon windward slog to Antigua. Nonetheless, as the days have gone by, his performance has improved, bringing him up into 8th position. When he arrived in Antigua, he was full of praise for SUNBEAR, and the leg to Panama has only confirmed his appreciation of this class. He calls it, ‘an amazing little boat, a real weapon.’ He is quietly confident, barring unforeseen circumstances, of crossing the finish line in Antigua in 2026.
Ertan Beskardes, on TREKKA, has also been going steady, though in his case he is likely to continue doing so during the circumnavigation. He is doing this trip for the fun of it, rather like Popeye on DELJA 99, fulfilling a long-held ambition to circumnavigate the world under sail. He was initially sailing slower than he might have, as – like Pilar – he had a stomach complaint for the first few days. Another problem is that he has lost most of his communications, with his Iridium Go malfunctioning, and the cable on his Starlink breaking.
He is not worried about getting weather information, as conditions are very stable, with steady following winds and moderate seas. Sometimes the wind-strength is a bit more than needed, but mostly it is easy going. He is sailing with a reefed mainsail and the jib poled out most of the time, reefing a bit of the jib in when he slept. He rarely set the kites, because he finds that doing so often overloads the self-steering. The Hydrovane, mounted close to the rudder and linked to it, does all the steering. Helming the boat is non-negotiable!
Ertan, meanwhile, enjoys listening to podcasts down below during the day, and in the early mornings and evenings, sits on deck, watching the sunrise and sunset. The seas are occasionally running at 3-4 metres, and sometimes a wave lands in the cockpit while he is out there. He gets wet, but he does not mind much, as the sea and air temperatures are warm. You just have to put up with damp clothes. The securing latch on his main hatch has broken, so he cannot secure the watertight door, but puts it in place at night when he goes to bed.
He is not cooking much due to the motion, though TREKKA’s larder is well stocked with things like tinned fish and olives, etc, and he is eating well. He has enough dried food aboard to get all the way around the world. He is looking forward to some calmer weather in the Pacific Ocean, when he can cook proper meals, like pasta.
Unlike most MGR entrants, Ertan does not have to prove he can navigate with sextant and celestial bodies, being a veteran of two Golden Globe Races (GGR), but naturally carries his sextant aboard. Although he fixes his position with GPS, he only switches it on once a day to check his latitude and longitude, recording it in his logbook, choosing to navigate between fixes by sailing a compass course, as in the days of old. He has not switched on his chartplotter since leaving Antigua, just looking at a Navionics chart on his iPad to determine the course. Obviously, if he was in the midst of a reef-strewn area like the Tuamotus or the Torres Strait, he’d plot his position more frequently, but in the open waters of the Caribbean Sea, he is happy to just sail free.
As the time this article went to press, Renaud on CAPUCINETTE was 16 miles from the breakwaters of Colon in Panama, the official finishing line for this leg, with Keri on ORIGAMI just 40nm behind, and Canada Dan on LITTLE BEA a further 10 miles back. Once again, Renaud Sitelmann has provided the MGR fleet with a masterclass in passage racing.
The accompanying image shows LITTLE WREN sailing westwards, with Adam Waugh’s A5 opposite the A7, as the wind and sea ease off in the approaches to Panama.
