BT Global Challenge - Leg 2 - 28th October

Andy Magrath LG FLATRON, Saturday 28th October;

'The sailing has been awesome, it's conditions like these that make the tougher times worthwhile. Yesterday morning I went on watch and was first on the helm. The sun had been up for a couple of hours and was already hot - t-shirts and shorts weather. The sea was an inky black colour with the wind blasting ripples across its surface, white horses appearing on the wave crests and the sun topping the view off by making the whole scene shine like a mirror.

Then add to that 18 to 23 knots of wind. We were reaching with plenty of sail up at ten knots and the spray was flying across the deck. Steering took a lot of concentration to avoid being over-powered - absolutely fantastic. Seventy-two feet of racing yacht in front of me, the mainsheet being played in and out with the gusts and the waves, headsail trimmers adjusting the sheet with every change in wind strength, not to mention the kicker, outhaul and cunningham adjustments - the whole watch working as a cohesive team.

But I was soon back in my climbing harness again. The lazy yankee sheet had come loose from the clew. I had to clip onto the working sheet while Kester prepared the spinnaker halyard to haul me up - and off I went. Eight meters up in the air with nothing but Atlantic Ocean beneath you sure gets the adrenaline going! A simple job, re-tie the bowline and come down, it's a shame really as the view of the boat is something else!

We are still in first place by 65 miles, but are by no means complacent. The dreaded doldrums are three days away and who knows what might happen there! Yesterday's morning watch was also a time of frenetic sail changes. The tradewinds are pretty steady, but the clouds can bring big changes to the weather. We look out on the radar to check if there is any rain in the clouds and then try to guage any change in wind strength. Sometimes it is a case of dropping a headsail, waiting for the gust to pass then rehoisting. Other times we go for the sail change.

The main difference between here and the North Atlantic? Out here you can go on to the foredeck in just your swimming shorts as the water is so warm. We can only begin to imagine what the water temperature will be in the Southern Ocean and how different our lives will become. But that is one of my reasons for doing the race - to experience ocean yacht racing in all conditions, good or bad!'

LG FLATRON had lost a little of their lead since Andy worte his report, and at 07.52 GMT on Saturday morning, the BT Global Challenge website reported the positions and distances to the finish of the top six as:

1 LG FLATRON 3648 nm
2 Compaq 3717 nm
3 Quadstone 3726 nm
4 Team SpirIT 3761 nm
5 Logica 3768 nm
6 Olympic Group 3771 nm