Dodging the squalls

We speak to a very very tired Emma Richards mid-way through crossing the Doldrums

When we speak about THE STORM from a week ago, Richards is remarkably casual- maybe it is tiredness or a week's hindsight. This severe depression had been forecast for some time and her tactics were to head towards its centre and gybe out again once the front had gone through and the wind had backed. All text book stuff. But on the way into the depression the wind pipped up more than expected. She had expected 30 knots. She got 45 knots solidly and at the peak of the storm wind speed topped an impressive 72 knots.

"There was water in the air everywhere," she remembers. "I couldn't tell if it was rain or spray. All the waves were flattened, with big white streaks down the waves." Mostly she sailed with three reefs in the main and the storm jib, but when the wind picked up she'd drop the mainsail and would only put it back up again once the wind had dropped below 35 knots. Under these conditions she was making between 3 and 9 knots.

The experience was like a two day long earthquake as the conditions shook the light fittings off the bulkhead and all the contents of the interior ended up in the diesel-infested mulsh of the bilge. Although the conditions were horrible, remarkably there were no breakages as Richards had prepared thoroughly beforehand.

"Everything was lashed, I took off all the sheets I wouldn’t use. Everything was tied off, like the furling line - that was coiled and tied up. There were no sails left on deck. I took everything down below." She said she also reefed early, in roughly 5 knots less than she would normally. She had got the storm jib into the cockpit ready to hoist, rather than having to hoist it out of the sail locker forward.

She says she was thankful to be there in such a seaworthy boat and would not have wanted to have encountered those conditions in a 60ft trimaran like she raced on the Transat Jacques Vabre last year, or even on a maxi cat.

In terms of the competition Richards is currently third, although very much in contact with second placed Thierry Dubois and some 235 miles behind race leader Bernard Stamm. She had overtaken Dubois during the big storm by getting to the west where she had been able to pick up the shift first, but two days after the storm was reovertaken at a point where it was marginal genniker/solent conditions - she had reduced sail whereas Dubois clung onto the genniker, handsteering for 15 hours.

So what lies ahead? Richards thinks it will take another day or so before she gets out of the Doldrums - although she is unsure of the timescale: "At this rate I’ll be here for another week," she said. Then she expects to sail upwind for a bit before hitting the South Atlantic trades. In these more regular conditions she will be able to rely on the autopilot more and should hopefully be able to catch up on her sleep.

With 4,500 miles to go it will not be until around 15-20 November before she arrives in Cape Town.

To send Emma Richards a message of encouragement go to her website.