BT Global Challenge - Leg 1 - 21st September

madforsailing.com's diary writers, Andy Magrath and Conrad Humphreys, are still leading aboard LG FLATRON, but the pressure is on

madforsailing.com is following the BT Global Challenge through the eyes of the skipper and a crewman aboard LG FLATRON - the leading boat for most of this leg. On Thursday, they both found time to write, Conrad's was first, then Andy.

Conrad Humphreys, Skipper LG FLATRON, Thursday, 21st September, 2000.

It's been over six years since I crossed the Grand Banks off Newfoundland. Then it was competing in the 1993/94 Whitbread Round the World Race (now the Volvo Ocean Race) on the under-funded Ukrainian W60. I seem to remember surfing at 25 knots in fog so thick you couldn't see your hand, with the Gulf Stream pushing us along and out into the Atlantic towards Southampton. That was the last leg, and the race for us was well and truly over.

No similarities here then! We are hard on the wind in ten knots of breeze, it's bright and sunny, this is Leg 1 of the BT Global Challenge - and it certainly is not over. With 1350 nm to the finish, and now 200 miles splitting the fleet from front to back, we are still leading.

But keeping the level of intensity high on board is one of my most challenging roles as skipper. With five boats all within 50 miles of us and chasing like a hungry pack of wolves, the atmosphere on board is electric, keeping it focussed is the challenge. I feel for the skippers who are at the back of the fleet. The level of expectation of the skipper, from some of their crew, must be a difficult problem to manage. Those who do manage it and keep their team's focussed when the tables are turned, will be among the front runners at the end.

It's time for a pep talk, we've lost miles to Quadstone over the last few position reports and my team are feeling tired. Mistakes are being made: a headsail change takes five minutes longer as a halyard gets twisted; the third reef pennant line gets snagged when we need to put in that reef. It's blowing 28 knots. It's 0400 (local time) and we are badly over-powered. Do I send Spike (Andy Magrath, see below) up the mast to rerun the third reef, or do we drop the main? We opt to leave it until first light and hope the wind doesn't increase any further. Two hours sailing slightly overpowered and off-course cost us six miles. Stupid mistakes.

Today hasn't brought the expected shift to the south-west. We positioned ourselves slightly south of the fleet to take the shift first. With the wind still in the north-west, it's hurt us. Not by much, maybe ten miles. But with five boats only 50 nm behind - can you feel the tension! When we eat tonight I will sit down with the team and refocus our efforts for the final week ahead. Boston is 1345 miles away, and we are in one helluva yacht race.
Andy Magrath LG FLATRON, Thursday, 21st September, 2000.

We're driving hard to windward on a course of 245, and are heeled over at 30-40 degrees and bouncing off every other wave. It is 0930 hrs and I have just come off watch, really wet. I had breakfast (cups, bread and porridge flying everywhere), and then used the heads (toilet) - absolute nightmare! But I've got through the ordeal relatively unscathed, and I'm now perched precariously by the computer, trying to type. The bunk is next and I'm sure I'll sleep despite the crashing and banging, not to mention the generator thumping away.

We are still in first place by about 20 miles, but Quadstone are breathing hard down our necks. We are holding pace or gaining miles on everyone except Quadstone, but our lead has been threatened before. At one point we were as far back as third and we pulled it back.

We currently have more south in our course than we would like, but are expecting the wind to become southerly sometime this afternoon. Then we can tack north back to the rhumb line. After a few days of pounding away on the same tack, tactics are again going to become more important. The tides around the Grand Banks are to be avoided if possible, that means going further north than we would otherwise go, but it should be worth it to get out of the worst of the current. But those decisions Conrad and Cian (navigator) work hard at - leaving us crew to sail the boat as best we can. The closer we get to Boston, the more slender our lead seems to be - 50 to 100 miles would be just perfect!