Around the Cape of Good Hope on Day 27 of the global race

The competitors in the Vendée Globe race are flying along the southern seas as they round the Cape of Good Hope and enter into the Indian Ocean in an easterly direction.

For the last few days, the fleet has been moving briskly in strong winds and everyone has been making good speed, with sustained winds of 20-25 knots and higher.

Sébastien Josse in BT and and Yann Elièsin Generali continue to set the pace. Desite having returned to port for a few days to make repairs at the begininng of the race, Canadian Derek Hatfield in Algimouss Spirit of Canada has caught and passed several competitors and now lies in 22nd position.


Here's his report today:

"I spotted my first albatross for this trip early this morning. They are magnificent birds and seem so at home here in the southern ocean. They soar around, doing a wheeling pattern into the trough of the waves and up high and back down again, only flapping their wings occassionaly. I watched one last trip for over five mintues and it never flapped it's wings once, gliding on it's huge wings and relying on the wind between the waves to keep going. I'm wondering if they can do this wheeling and soaring pattern in their sleep. I've read that they will spend months at sea and never touch land.

"Last night was fast and furious again with a top speed of 25.3 knots, a best for this trip and for this boat. I can feel the effects of the high pressure system now and the barometer is starting to rise. It's going to be very close to make it through before the high develops here. It will be slower today as we slowly make our way down to the gate. Ideally I would like to be farther south but will make do with this spot. We may have to jibe south eventually to get into the furious forties. "

The "gate" he's referring to is a turning point off the southern tip of Africa. High pressure systems generally bring clear skies, but weaking winds, and so the competitors try to avoid these systems as much as they can. On the other hand, these systems give the sailors a chance to rest a little and sometimes high pressure brings welcome relief. It's all about timing.

Notes:
1. For a video report on the race, see this video summary.
2. Photos on this page are courtesy of www.vendeeglobe.org/en

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Hatfield in his rhythm

Derek Hatfield crossed the equator this week and headed into the southern Atlantic Ocean, making up some ground on the boats ahead of him in the Vendée Globe round-the-world race.

Crossing the Doldrums near the equator was not as difficult as he feared, as he was fortunate to have some wind in the typically becalmed waters. As he moved into the southern hemisphere, he began fighting headwinds, which make life on Algimouss Spirit of Canada harder, as the boat must constantly tack to make progress. This means long hours at the wheel and little opportunity for sleep. (Most of these sailors are just getting snatches of two hours of sleep here and there; managing fatigue is a big part of the challenge.)

At the front of the pack, the lead has changed several times. Gitana Eighty is no longer at the head of the pack, having moved to a more westerly route. BT leads, followed by VM Matériaux and Generali, but the lead is changing very frequently, as the group prepares to make a big left-hand turn as they line up their approach to the waters under South Africa.

Hatfield sent several updates this week. Here's what he wrote as he approached the equator:

59 miles to do to cross the equator! This is my 5th time crossing that magical line and it is always special having the GPS just flip over from North to South, no fanfare or special signs, it doesn't care so much.

For me this kind of marks the end of phase one in the race - start line to the equator. Phase two starts immediately and takes us down to the south.

It's a little slow today it seems, more upwind work as I get into the weather systems south of the equator. The doldrums were non existent this time across which was lucky. Normally it is a slow painful crossing with many black clouds to negotiate. Thunder and lightning storms and big wind holes that can last for hours. Most of the fleet crossed without stopping I would imagine.

I am very tired today, I had a long night on deck watching for ships and monitoring the autopilot. Three ships came directly from the south, head on and very close. It's a little intimidating to have a large ship playing chicken with a small sailboat. About midnight the autopilot decided to tack the boat while I was asleep and I was rudely awakened with the boat totally on its side going sideways on the opposite tack. It took me about an hour to get it all back on track again and luckily no damage.

I guess the pilot needs some attention so I think I will call him Joshua, after Joshua Slocum the famous Canadian who was the first person to sail around the world single handed. The autopilot on Spirit of Canada in the Around Alone was called Joshua as well.

And today, he sent this message:

Hello from Algimouss Spirit of Canada.

Slowly, ever so slowly the wind backs as we beat and thrash our way upwind. Most uncomfortable. I'm not sure if the fleet ahead of me had upwind conditions like this but it would explain why they did not pull away after the doldrums like I thought they should have. Normally we would be close reaching down the coast of Brazil. Ironically when we come this way again in 7 or 8 weeks, we will probably be upwind again past Brazil towards the finish line. The humidity is taking it's toll in skin rashes and blisters. Everytime I go on deck it's either a salt water shower or foul weather gear while sweating to death underneath. After more than two weeks at sea, I begin to wonder if "foul" weather gear refers to the outside or the inside of the gear. Time for a good rain shower I'm hoping, before it gets too cold in another week or so. Time for lunch; chicken with noodles and bread and peanut butter and jam. And a french chocolat pudding for dessert.

Notes:

1. Photo is courtesy of the race organizers at http://www.vendeeglobe.org/

2. For more detailed discussion of the race and sailing strategy, see the Daily Sail's reporting on the race.
3. For those of you that are reading the Zanepost race update for the first time...The event began on November 9th and we're providing periodic updates. See previous days for more information or go to the first entry for background: Thirty sailors tackle solo race around the globe.

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Messages from the middle of the Atlantic Ocean

Imagine being on a sailboat all alone in the Atlantic Ocean in the cold of December.

For the participants of the "Transat Ecover B to B" race, this is exactly what they've been experiencing for the last two weeks. The competitors are expert sailors, who are single-handedly challenging themselves from Salvador de Bahia in Brazil to Port La Floret in Bretagne, France (Bahia to Bretagne, hence "B to B"). The race is one of a handful of qualifiers for sailors who wish to enter even more gruelling solo round-the-globe races, like the Vendee Globe.

French skipper Loick Peyron, navigating Gitana Eighty, arrived first in France late Thursday night. Behind him, at various distances, stretched the field of another 12 boats. One of them is Spirit of Canada, skippered by Derek Hatfield of Aurora, Ontario. He prepared the boat in Port Credit and sailed it on Lake Ontario before heading to Brazil.

Through daily e-mail updates for his team's sponsors and other supporters, Hatfield has allowed us to follow him on his adventure. Somehow - I assume by satellite uplink - he finds a way to tap out a daily message while he's sailing the boat.

A few days ago, the tone was despairing, as the boat languished for several days in flat seas, with no wind and no progress. The fatigue and stress was apparent in his notes. Then the wind finally picked up and his messages became more upbeat.

This is what he wrote on Friday:

Hello from Spirit of Canada 14 December 2007.

Overall it's been a good sailing day but still not a lot of wind. On average about 8 knots
of wind from the southeast so we are going off the wind for a change. I have
continued to hand steer to get the maximum from the gennaker and boat speed.
There was a great sunset tonight and each night has been clear with millions
of stars. As the boats start the finishing process, it always gets anxious
for those further back to get in and finish. I am starting to feel the
anxiety now with over 1000 miles to go, it is not a position I am used to.
Here's hoping for a quick finish from here but unfortunately the winds are
not playing fair so far.

And the next day he wrote this:

Hello from Spirit of Canada 15 December 15, 2007

The wind is back! Finally we have some decent wind, albeit from
the south it is a welcome change from that heinous area behind us that held us
for so many hours. I'm sailing a direct course to the finish line at speed so it
feels great. Congratulations to all of those skippers that are in port, what a
fantastic job they did. The situation on board is very static at the moment and
as I mentioned before, I am anxious to be finished and move on to the next
stage.The family is on their way to France and will be flying overhead in about
6 hours from now. I'll keep an eye for the light in the window.

If you'd like to learn more about Hatfield, see here.

More information on the race is available at:
http://www.transatbtob.com/lang-gb.html
http://www.sailing.org/21759.php
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Photo is by Yucel Tellici, made available by the stock.xchng