Deep in the Heart of the Tradewinds
Posted by Graham Cox
When my last update went to press, Popeye (Mike Blenkinsop) and his son, John, had just left Balboa, aboard DELJA 99 and DELJA 100 respectively, approximately three weeks behind the rest of the fleet, and the others were hammering along in the heart of the tradewinds, SW of the Galapagos Islands.
And what speeds they have been making, averaging for the most part between 5 and 6.5 knots, with only a couple of boats occasionally sailing a bit slower in light-wind patches. In one 24-hour period, to name just a few, Renaud Stitelmann, leading the pack, travelled 156 miles, Daniel Turner 151 miles, Keri Harris 147 miles, and Jakub Ziemkiewicz 142 miles. It now looks as if most of the boats will complete this 4000-mile passage in less than 40 days, despite spending more than a week working through the doldrums.
It hasn’t been all beer and skittles, though. Earlier in the week, Adam Waugh, on LITTLE WREN, reported that the wind had been blowing a steady 25 knots, with gusts to 30. In a video posted online, he expressed delight with the steady wind and fast progress, but can be seen with one hand overhead, holding tightly to the deck-beam that spans his doghouse. He was sailing with three reefs in the mainsail and the working jib poled out to windward. His jury-rigged South Atlantic windvane unit, which developed a crack in the main frame, and is now held together with hose-clamps, was holding up well. The manufacturers are facilitating a repair when he gets to Tahiti.
Christian Sauer has also had his challenges on ARGO, with both the weather and damage to his windvane. He posted: ‘The weather shows its gray side – rain, clouds, little sun. Opportunities to recharge energy or even enjoy a warm shower are rare. The nights bring little sleep, and the wind demands everything from the boat, like me. I’m currently driving with significantly reduced sail area, but the windvane system is reaching its limits. The direction lever just doesn’t want to grip anymore, the shaft turns anyway.’
On board LITTLE BEA, CanaDan, upbeat as always, posted: ‘PERSONAL BEST – Sailed 151 nautical miles yesterday. It’s nice to be humming along again. There is not enough reading material, podcasts, and wildlife for this leg though – what an epic journey. What day is it again?’
Aussie Dan posted: ‘After yet another night of non-stop squalls, and getting thrown around in the washing machine, there is a bit of sunlight and more consistent seas! Hoping to catch up on sleep now.’
On the evening of 16 April, IMMORTAL GAME was hanging onto 2nd place behind Renaud on CAPUCINETTE. Renaud looks to have an unassailable lead of almost 100nm. Dan has traded placed with Keri on ORIGAMI a couple of times but always finds the means to work his way back into 2nd place. Pilar, on PETER PUNK, is not far behind Keri. These four look likely to remain the leading pack.
By 18 April, the wind and seas had backed off a fair bit, and the sun returned to give much-needed solar energy to ships’ batteries. Jasmine’s mother/manager, Susan, reported: ‘Progress is good with the highest 24-hour mileage over the last few days being 137nm! The torrential downpours have changed back into squalls, the sea is lumpy with occasional waves breaking over the boat. Overnight sail changes have reduced a little and are now almost automatic. So much so that Jasmine wakes up ready to change the sail and has no recollection of the last change. She has been very sleep deprived but that’s improving now too.
‘The sun has also made an appearance, allowing the batteries to recharge. She has seen a 1.2m shark, which was tracking a fishing buoy, and also a small whale alongside the boat. She’s not planning to dive in and clean the hull anytime soon!’
Ertan was making the most of the improved weather, sailing fast with a reefed mainsail and A7 flying to starboard, with the partially-rolled jib poled out to windward (port side). He wrote: ‘The last few days have been full of sunshine after days of constant rain. Wind has been steady, Hydrovane doing all the work. TREKKA is at 112 west longitude, life on board comfortable with endless entertainment thanks to Starlink . Couple of more weeks to go to Nuku Hiva.’
DELJA 99 and DELJA 100 are now out of the Gulf of Panama and heading south, well offshore of the coast of Ecuador. They headed further south than their predecessors initially, as there was a large, windless hole east of the Galapagos Islands, and they were riding a NE breeze. By 20 April, they were sailing at around 3 knots into a light headwind, which was forcing them to point further west, even though there is still an ominous-looking windless hole just east of the Galapagos Islands. They are still close together, and sailing at similar speeds, just a couple of miles apart. John posted a scary-looking video of a serious evening thunderstorm on the 19th.
On 19 April, Jasmine’s mum reported: ‘Conditions still continue to change, and at the moment it’s a little slower but still a decent 108 miles in 24 hours. Sunrise this morning was stunning. Unfortunately, there are no Easter eggs onboard NUMBATOU; there are no fresh supplies left either. Yesterday’s food was wraps with tinned ham, tinned mushrooms and tinned spinach, which is actually a real thing and apparently really tasty.’
Christian Sauer sounded a little weary when he called this week. He said he sometimes wonders why he is putting himself through this, and noted that the 580 can be a very uncomfortable boat when the sea-state is confused, as it has been at times on this leg. His determination to succeed remains strong, however. He has had a number of technical issues to deal with, and his skin infections continue to trouble him, despite courses of antibiotics and other treatments. He is hoping to find further medical assistance in Hiva Oa, or perhaps in Tahiti.
Ever since starting the MGR, he has struggled with his Windpilot self-steering unit, and he has now discovered that the course-setting clamp is slipping. An examination of the unit has not revealed any obvious damage, but he plans to pull it apart completely when he gets to port for a closer examination. Luckily, he has a complete spare unit aboard, and has fitted the new unit now. It is working well, to his relief.
He has also had electrical issues. He was grateful that he was allowed to charge his flat batteries to 50% during his short stop in the Galapagos Islands (and also that he chose to install lithium batteries), but for the first 10 days after he left there, the sky was heavily overcast and he was unable to charge them any further, despite having close to the maximum allowable watts in his solar panels (198). He took to switching everything off, including his navigation lights when he was on deck at night, but the batteries steadily lost charge. In the last few days, he has had some sunlight and managed to get some amps back into the system.
One of his panels also stopped working for a day but is now functioning normally again. He does not know why this happened. He is hoping to get enough sunlight before he arrives in the Marquesas to put some charge into his engine battery, to allow him to motor into the anchorage if necessary. He is the only MGR entrant to have a wind generator, but the following winds have been too light on this leg for it to be effective.
He has noticed some barnacles growing on the transom, despite ARGO’s underwater sections being protected by a silicon foil (Chrisian did not want to use traditional antifouling). The foil was damaged by the huge tree he ran up on earlier in this leg, so expects barnacles there, too. He said the barnacles would usually be easy to wipe off the hull, but conditions have been too lively to go over the side and give the bottom a scrub. ARGO also has some minor holes in the A5 kite.
Christian says that one of the benefits of a long, hard, passage like this is that it takes you to a place in your mind that you might never visit otherwise. He says he has moments that feel profound and life-changing. Despite the weariness and challenges, these moments make the voyage very fulfilling, and he is happy to be out there, making this voyage. If the passage lasted longer, it would not distress him.
Keri had to use his Iridium sat-phone to call this week, having lost his Starlink overboard during a Chinese gybe several days earlier, and the reception was frequently interrupted. He’d not had time to permanently mount the Starlink in Panama, so it was just tied on, but unfortunately only secured against the tack he was on. When ORIGAMI gybed, the unit slipped overboard. Lesson learned, and it may be an expensive one. The units were dirt-cheap in Panama, but are illegal to use in Tahiti, so he may have to wait until he reaches Fiji to replace it.
He also broke his boom-vang during a controlled gybe, due to the fitting pulling out of the track. He managed to repair it by taking the boom off, which allowed him to slide it back in and reinforce it with lashings. The rest of the fleet has been alerted to this potential weakness, which could have serious consequences in rough weather.
The seas ORIGAMI was in at the time were quite rough (as big as small houses, according to a report from his manager), though the wind was not too strong. Keri says they waves were not breaking, but there was also an ugly cross-swell throwing the boat around. This made lowering the mainsail and repairing the boom vang quite challenging.
Because he no longer has a functioning autopilot, he is totally reliant on the South Atlantic windvane, or hand-steering, and has fallen a bit behind Renaud and Aussie Dan. Keri says he needs to do something about that! ORIGAMI is also further south than the other boats.
Finding the right sail combinations in the lighter winds, when they are combined with sloppy seas, is a challenge. Sailing with the A5 poled out opposite the A3 causes the A3 to flop around. He just had the mainsail opposite the poled-out jib when he called. It is not as fast, but is more stable, giving him time to rest.
He used some of that time to read John Guzzwell’s book, Trekka Round the World, partially for pleasure and also to learn more about the passages up ahead, and how John handled them. This led to an interesting discussion about the design of the original TREKKA. Keri said he was thinking that he might campaign one of these Laurent Giles yawls in the next MGR and see how it competes with the 580.
This scribe is most interested in that idea, and had hoped there might be a Giles-designed TREKKA in the inaugural race. One thing that intrigues me about John Guzzwell and his TREKKA is that he drove his boat extremely hard, often achieving daily runs in excess of 140nm when running in the tradewinds, and once achieved a whopping 198 miles in 25 hours (while sailing this same leg), with the help of the South Equatorial Current.
To cap it all, TREKKA was self-steering the whole time, with twin jibs poled out, plus a small, symmetrical spinnaker set above them. John said the sheets were stretching like rubber bands, and the whole rig shook when TREKKA sheered off for a moment, collapsing the spinnaker, which then reset with a bang when the twin jibs corrected the course. John stood for hours in the companionway, anxiously watching his gear, but too thrilled to reduce sail. TREKKA never once broached!
The ocean is always different, of course, even for boats just a few hundred miles apart, so the only way to compare the two designs would be to match-race them. My guess is that the 580 would more than hold its own when broad-reaching, using the A sails, and perhaps hand-steering when near the edge, but that TREKKA would be faster on a run, especially in fresh winds, and possibly to windward. With John Guzzwell aboard, TREKKA might even triumph all round. Anyway, Keri and I had fun speculating.
Another thing that is slowing ORIGAMI, apart from the skipper lounging around reading books, is that she has developed a fine crop of barnacles. But Keri seems more relaxed on this leg than he was before. The rhythms of a long passage are perhaps having their effect. He says that without access to the weather data he had on Starlink, he is just taking it as it comes and sleeping a lot more. The absolute lack of shipping makes him feel more relaxed about leaving the ship to her own devices.
Keri is particularly looking forward to the Marquesas, having introductions to local people through a Swiss/French sailor he knows, and plans to cruise around the main islands, passing on his friend’s regards. He also plans to go over the side and reactivate his Coppercoat antifouling paint, plus do a bit of hiking in the mountains. Then its off to thread the needle through the Tuamotu Archipelago to Tahiti.
Adam reported that he had been sailing is light winds, with smooth seas and plenty of sun, for the previous few days, though the cloud was now building and he thought they might be in for a short blow. His jury-rigged self-steering gear was performing well, with no sign of stress to the hose-clamps supporting the cracked frame. He does not plan to touch it, if possible, until they reach Tahiti, where the manufacturer is flying in a replacement part.
He was broad-reaching with the A7 poled out to windward opposite the A5, but was struggling a little to stay as far off the wind as he wished, so planned to change down to the jib poled out to windward opposite the A7 before nightfall. In these conditions, he leaves the A5 and A7 permanently hoisted, ready to deploy, but is still setting his A3 flying, which he has done since his top-down furler for that sail failed one difficult night shortly after leaving the Canary Islands. He says that hoisting it is easy enough, but sometimes part of the sail ends up in the sea when dowsing it.
He has more than enough water left, and enough food, though is running out of milk, which he will miss, as he likes to have it in tea and on his breakfast cereal. He has 18 cans of sardines left, more than enough for this passage. There is lots of pasta in the cupboards.
He is well in the groove now, sleeping for periods of two hours, then getting up for a look around. If conditions are settled, he is back in bed within five minutes. He feels sleep is vital for well-being, more important than sailing fast, and feels quite relaxed. He joked that the only complication was that there is this race thing going on, and he feels a little bit of self-imposed pressure not to disappoint his friends and supporters if LITTLE WREN is too far back in the fleet.
His is looking forward to reaching the Marquesas, but is not lonely or desperate to get off the boat. If told he had to carry on to Tahiti without stopping, or even Fiji, it would not bother him (apart, perhaps, from running out of sardines!). He says the experience is as much, or even better, than expected, and he is thoroughly enjoying the experience, grateful to Don McIntyre for creating the MGR, without which support he might never have embarked on such a voyage.
LITTLE BEA was rolling along with the A3 to leeward opposite the poled-out jib when Dan Turk called. CanaDan, as we call him, sounded happy and relaxed, saying that conditions had been pretty nice for the last 3-4 days, with sunny skies, lots of charge in the batteries, about an 8ft swell, and the windvane doing all the work.
He has not seen much wildlife, no whales, though a pod of dolphins visited the day before. The red-footed boobies that accompanied him for some time after passing the Galapagos Islands have finally vacated, though there are flocks of smaller birds around now, apparently feeding on something in the water, perhaps schools of small flying fish. Canadan passes the time listening to music and reading, though in an earlier post lamented that he did not have enough variety aboard.
LITTLE BEA is in fine fettle, with no damage to the boat or gear. Canadan mentioned he is husbanding his gear carefully, conscious that there is a long way to go. Nonetheless, he has been maintaining his position in the fleet, and has even gained a little on the leaders, pulling away from the middle pack of boats. One gets the impression though that he is not obsessed with racing at the expense of enjoying the experience.
The only gear problem is that one of his solar panels, previously repaired, is not working and may need to be replaced when possible. The boat is a bit damp below, after a recent period of very heavy rain that lasted for three days. Despite taking as much care as possible, he tracked a fair bit of water into the boat every time he came below, and things are still sticky with salt, especially those that are hard to dry, like paper charts.
He has about 90L of water left, and plenty of food, though it is all, of course, freeze-dried or canned. He posted a photo the other day of his dinner, a pork dish that he enjoys. He is looking forward to some fresh food in the Marquesas, and a cold beer or two, but is happy aboard and has no desire to jump off the boat. Having learned a lesson during his North Atlantic crossing in 2023, after which it took him some time to regain strength in his legs in particular, he is doing regular exercises, including squats, and is feeling fit. He’ll be ready to go hiking when he reaches the mountainous Marquesas.
Aboard TREKKA, Ertan was running downwind with his A7 poled out opposite the jib, and the Hydrovane doing all the work as usual. He said TREKKA could probably carry the A5, but then he would have to hand-steer, as the Hydrovane struggled to cope if he pressed the boat harder than he was doing. He prefers to cruise, and he does it in style, having a shower every day, two if it is a hot day, changing his clothes, having a shave, doing a bit of laundry, keeping the boat clean, eating as well as possible, and relaxing down below.
The amazing thing is that he is still in the middle of the fleet, holding his own against the majority of the boats. He estimated that if he pushed TREKKA harder, did a bit of hand-steering, changed sails more often, i.e. took racing seriously, he could make an extra 10-15 miles a day. The leading boats, who choose to be as competitive as possible, have to work very hard for those extra miles. Ertan also pointed out that he does not break things on TREKKA!
Having caught 20L of rainwater about 10 days earlier, he still had full tanks, despite taking regular showers. He estimated he would not need to take water aboard until he reached Tahiti. He also has a lot of UHT milk and fruit juices aboard. In the doldrums, he used around 3L of water daily for drinking purposes, but usually consumes 2L.
Alas, he has not caught another fish, despite regularly changing lures. It seems there are not many fish in the sea in this part of the Pacific Ocean, apart from flying fish, which he throws back into the sea when they come aboard while he is awake. They have all been rather small, anyway. The other day, one came in through the deck hatch and landed on his head.
At the time, he was lying on the floor, on the centreline, which he refers to as his cot. It is more comfortable there when the boat is rolling, and has the added advantage that it helps keep the boat balanced. He talked about the challenge of having to readjust the sails every time he moved position aboard. If he goes aft to sit on his stern seat, which he likes to do for short periods when making videos, he has to keep one hand free to grab the tiller, assuming he does not adjust the sails to compensate. He always tries to stay in the middle of the boat, to minimise changes in balance.
With all the sunshine, his working batteries are 100% charged, and he is now putting a charge into the outboard motor battery for a couple of hours each day, so that the motor will be ready for manouvering if needed when he makes landfall.
He sometimes feels the lack of exercise, especially when there is no need to do much sail-changing, but otherwise feels fit and is content at sea. He does not like to think too far ahead, mostly focusing on what is happening at the moment, and what the coming night will bring.
Although he has been thinking a little about landfall in the Marquesas, as the MGR fleet will not be tied up in a marina while there. He does not have a dinghy aboard, and will need to arrange for transport ashore. He would also, if possible, like to leave TREKKA at anchor, and spend the eight mandatory days he has to spend there in a motel. The 580, in his opinion, is not a boat to lounge around on in port.
He is still enjoying good meals. He’d just had some sardines and vegetables, and had enjoyed his usual cereal breakfast earlier. The previous day he dined on pasta with lots of tomato and garlic sauce. Asked if he enjoyed a glass of wine with his dinner, he said he did not bother drinking when alone – it was just a social activity for him. His bottle of rum from Antigua is still unopened.
We also talked about the new notice-of-race ruling, that will ban the linking of Hydrovanes and rudders from the Marquesas onward, in the interests of maintaining the one-design element of the race. Although Ertan agrees with the ruling, he will not be able to comply with it until he is able to re-position his Hydrovane, as he installed it too close to the rudder to operate independently. Ertan solved that issue by linking them, a move that was then copied by other skippers whose units were further apart, effectively giving their boats twin rudders, and possibly some advantage when driving hard downwind. It will be interesting to see if this affects performance and boat rankings when the fleet leaves the Marquesas. Ertan, of course, was also the first skipper who fitted a Hydrovane to his 580, setting off a trend. He is the unlikely bad boy of the MGR fleet!
Eric Marsh missed his call this week, though his wife and manager, Brenda, wrote in a Facebook post that the wind had eased to 10 knots late on 20 April. SUNBEAR still seems to be making good time though, as does Gary Swindail on QUESTION 2, who also failed to make contact. Pilar Pasanau did call, but spoke only in Spanish, leaving this scribe none the wiser as to how things are aboard PETER PUNK. She is consistently holding onto 4th place though, so one assumes all is well aboard.
In just over a week, the first boats should start arriving in the Marquesas, and a new chapter of this adventure will begin.
