The Ultimate Sailing Calendar
Click for more info.

Around Alone Report for December 10

Autissier Claims Lead

Please consult The Around Alone Report Users Guide for an explanation of this report

What does the Southern Ocean do to a sailor ?  In the plainest terms, this area is scary.  Neal Petersen says: "The gale shook me up and I stayed north instead of charging into the roaring 40's.  I am scared of what the roaring 40's can do."  Josh Hall reacts to the Southern Ocean this way: "The power of it all is truly incredible."  Brad Van Liew says: "I still am dealing with a knot in my stomach." So, as the dramatics unfold, remember how aware the competitors are.

Fleet Round Up:

The leading sailor right now is Isabelle Autissier sailing PRB.  PRB is first in class I with a 30 mile lead over Fila.   During the time Isabelle was fixing her keel, she took the precaution of letting commercial shipping know of her predicament.  With 2 Southern Ocean dismastings she knows how scary it can be.

In 2nd place is Fila.  From Fila Giovanni Soldini describes the all on Southern Ocean: "In these conditions your muscles are ready to react to every change in the boat's trim or speed -- you virtually become a part of the boat itself."  Soldini's Fila is going well, however he does have some autopilot problems.  To fix the pilot Soldini says: "I have to reinsert a whole series of data. To do it I need low winds and relatively calm seas -- I hope I can get it done because it's the main pilot and steers a lot better than the others."  At last report his speed was 15.2 knots, so one would think he is not doing much maintenance.

3rd in Class I is Group 4, 58 miles back.  Group 4 is sailing at 13.1 knots located in between PRB to the South and Fila to the north.  This is very similar to Leg 1 when Group was not often in the lead, but still was the leg winner.

4th is Somewhere, 92 miles out.   Somewhere is the north most of the Class I yachts, and is currently sailing at a 14.8 knot clip.

5th in Class I is Gartmore.   Skipper Josh Hall has tried a more conservative sailing style.  Still, in the Southern Ocean sometimes even conservative is scary.  Hall describes what happened this way: "We were running hard at 16-20 kts when the boat crash gybed suddenly on a big wave, the mainsail slammed over and we were pinned on our beam end with the ballast in the wrong side."  It took an hour to gybe the boat.  All this time Hall let his genoa flog away.  Needles to say the headsail wasn't in good shape as Hall says: "The sheets that control it had wrapped themselves in a bar tight snakes honeymoon around the roller drum."  Two hours were spent untangling them.  After this a 3rd reef was tucked in the main the staysail set, a total of 4 hours to recover from an instantaneous incident.  Moral of the story is, no matter how conservative you are the Southern Ocean doesn't care.

6th in Class I is Modern University for the Humanities.  A late starter MUH is 1401 miles behind the leaders and sailing a southerly course. 

Class II is still led by Magellan Alpha.   Magellan leads Cray Valley by 59 miles, as both boat sail at 10+ knots at 46 degrees south latitude.  Course wise Magellan steers 107, Cray Valley 108.   Magellan holds a speed edge 11.2 knots to 10.7.

Magellan's Mike Garside is pushing hard, with some aggressive goals top of mind such as: "Two of the goals I have for this or the next leg are to break through the 300-mile barrier in a 24-hour run, and to beat Pete Goss's record 315-mile-day he achieved during the 1996-97 Vendee Globe Challenge."  So far, 287 miles is the best 24 hour run- an average of 11.96 knots.

Still, Garside is not totally off the effort scale.   He describes a record speed reading this way:  "Suddenly Alphie accelerated and we were off on a wild ride touching 28.8 knots SOG at the peak. This is the fastest we have sailed together and I felt Christophe Augin would have approved that I had taken it lying down. Augin is reputed to be a great believer in conserving energy while racing. I am one of his confirmed disciples."

The conservation theme seems to be growing in Garside's plans: "To win this race, as anyone knows, I first have to finish. I have reined in the horses." 

2nd place Cray Valley has gained 3 miles in the last 24 hours.  Skipper J.P. Mouligne also comments on rest: "Another front is on its way, so I am trying to get as much rest as possible."   As for Magellan's lead he says: "....the race is long, a lot can happen, and I am not overly worried by his lead."

2 degrees latitude to the north sit 3rd place Balance Bar and 4th place (and first 40 footer) Wind of Change Russia.  6 miles separate the two.

Balance Bar's Brad Van Liew continues to optimize for the conditions: "The lack of the furling unit on the inner headstay will now be dealt with by using a storm jib on the stay instead of the staysail."

Wind of Change sails along at 9.6 knots.  This gives her a .4 knots speed advantage over Balance Bar.  Perhaps Wind of Change can pull some miles back.

Next it www.no-barriers.com.   Neal Petersen has finally altered course and is heading south, currently steering 201 degrees.  Neal has come to terms with feelings such as: "The easy option is to turn around and go back to port, admitting that the Southern Ocean scares me."  It looks like Neal's has overcome an important barrier and is  back in the gam. No Barriers should pick up speed as she gets south.

Shuten Dojhi 2 has moved up to the 6th place, 723 miles behind the class leader.

Next is Paladin 2.   Neil Hunter has had recent difficulties.  First, he had a high speed collision with a buoy.  Then when looking at a fix for his wind vane steering, he noticed a 6 inch thick warp wrapped around his rudder.  Neil solved things this way: "So I have just put on my 7 mm wet suit and have been for a swim in the Southern Ocean, after taking down all sail and trailing a line. The rope is now gone to Davey Jones locker and I am a little cleaner." 

Last is the recently restarted Rapscallion III has again returned to Cape Town this time with a diesel fuel leak.

What Does it All Mean ?

The fleet continue to wage an all on mental and physical battle with the Southern Ocean.  The ocean can attack anytime for seemingly no reason.  Whoever deals with these situations the best will at least survive and perhaps even win.

STANDINGS TABLE