BT Global Challenge - Leg 3 - 27th December 2000

Andy Magrath, madforsailing's diary writer, has been enjoying Christmas in the Southern Ocean

madforsailing is following the BT Global Challenge through the diaries of Conrad Humphreys (skipper) and Andy Magrath (crewman) aboard LG FLATRON.

Andy Magrath, LG FLATRON, Wednesday 27th December;

"Christmas at sea! We had a wonderful day. Amanda was on mother watch and therefore had the daunting responsibility of cooking Christmas lunch for 18 hungry crew! The meal was fantastic; chicken (freeze dried), peas, stuffing, roast potatoes and gravy. Amanda's Mum had made Christmas pudding, which was perfect with a brandy sauce. It was a real taste of home.

The racing didn't stop and on deck it was pretty bleak. A relentless port tack to windward across the grey ocean. Freezing cold of course - the water temperature is six degrees celcius! At watch changeover time in the evening - 20:00 - it was time to swap gifts. No-one had brought presents from home. About a week ago we all drew another crew members name out of a hat and had to make a present for that person using only what we could find on the boat. The idea worked really well.

It was amazing what people came up with - I had drawn Scott's name and I adapted my LG cap by stitching some writing onto it. I put 'Cape Horn' along with his name and the date we rounded the Horn onto the side. It worked pretty well! The other ideas are too numerous to mention (that's my excuse anyway). At the same time we had mince pies brought by Bob and a Christmas cake made by my Mum (thanks Mum)! Both were great, a real treat for us to enjoy so far from home.

On to the sailing side of things. Up until today we had been on port tack following the rhumb line with a southerly wind for about three days. The wind over the last 12 hours has moved to become westerly, and it should go round to northerly in the next 12 hours. We are still in first place, but only just! We can actually see Compaq to port at present. Last time I looked we were nudging ahead. It is amazing that the racing is so close after 3100 miles and it is incredibly exciting to be part of it.