Brian Thompson's PlayStation diary - 13/1/01

The British PlayStation watch captain reports from the Doldrums

Day 11 and here we are on the southern edge of the Doldrums sailing downwind in a fitful five knots of breeze, the air temperature is 32 degrees and the sky is surprisingly clear now, but it looks like we will have to cross the Equator before getting the beginnings of the south-east trade winds. At present we are enjoying the northerly trades, which replaced the westerly trades we had been sailing in since sunset last night.
We had our first hint of Doldrums yesterday at 1700, as we went through a rain squall with 32 knots of breeze, then the wind dropped lighter and we passed between two giant areas of rain, and since then for the last 200 miles we have had three to ten knots of wind and the occasional small rain shower. But no great theatrics, our trip through has been a little slower than our competitors ahead, but relatively tame compared to this area's reputation.

Since I last wrote my diary we have had magnificent sailing. Once we tacked to starboard to the south-west of Portugal we were close-hauled for half a day, then gradually lifted as we approached the Canaries and then we have sailed downwind VMG angles since we shot between Gran Canaria and Fuertaventura, pushing the boat harder on each watch, gybing down through the Cape Verdes, covering huge distances as we sailed through the clear, stable air of the eastern trades. A very different experience to the traditional trip to the Antilles, with no squalls and smoother seas, and we began to sail with full main and big reacher in 30 knots of breeze as we gained confidence in the new bows on PlayStation and began to match the pace of the front-runners.

In the race we have still been fortunate to have gotten off lightly from our pitstop in Gibraltar, we were 56 hours behind Team Adventure in passing Gibraltar after our 48 hour penalty, and we had narrowed that to 24 hours by the Canaries. Since then we have dropped back a little, 36 hours behind Club Med entering the Doldrums and 40 hours now. And we like to think in terms of time rather than miles, as our distance from the leader moves like a shock cord as the fleet passes through the weather systems. Now the leaders are gaining big miles on us, stretching the elastic, but that should get pulled back as they negotiate the downwind western side of the South Atlantic High, and we are still reaching along in the south-east trades.

It looks to me that the two front-runners had a slight boat speed edge to us on the long run to the Doldrums, and that may have been due to them pushing each other so hard to gain on each four hour schedule, and us only having our computers and our different drivers to compete with. Also our downwind, loose-luffed reachers are from the same generation as the sails we had to replace in Gibraltar, so we are being conservative and not taking them to their upper apparent wind speeds, we need to preserve them for the long haul.

So only 52 miles from the Equator as I write this, I am about to go to my bunk - but as Stu Wilson told me but an hour ago, "There is a rite of passage to be made by all those who have not crossed the line by sailing ship before, they must pay homage to King Neptune to ensure a safe voyage for the vessel." I am not sure what he is talking about, but I am finding mysterious bags full of rotting flying fish about the boat, interesting...

It's 0600 on Day 12 and we crossed the Equator at 0100 - at 25 knots with full main and solent in the midst of a dense rain squall and 38 knots of breeze. Exhilarating stuff and what a change from a few hours ago - we should be entering light easterly trades, but instead the sky and the radar show rain all around us and we still have the northerlies. Stan Honey at the nav desk says, "not long now" to the real trades. Looks like the fair skies of yesterday were an aberration that slowed our passage, the synoptic wind being so light in this region that the only significant breeze to be found is in these squally areas of convection...

Just put up the big reacher now that the puffs are below 30 knots, dawn is approaching and rapidly here. It will be off with the foul weather gear soon and on with the sunblock, hats, sunglasses and long-sleeved shirts. Another great day arrives - 11.5 days since the start in Barcelona, and for us 9.5 days of sailing completed. This is racing with the tape on fast forward...!