Losing ground on Monnet

Fortunately Jean-Luc van den Heede has enough in the bank not to worry

Day 39. Position at 1300: 54°45'S / 104°12'W
Wind 12 knots from NE. Sea: slight.
Temperatures: day 11° / night 7° / sea 7°
Distance covered in the last 24 hours: 161 miles.
To the antemeridian 2,795 miles.
Lead over Monnet: 6 days and 14 h.

Hi there,

The days go by and one day is never like the next. Yesterday, I was tired after the previous night's storm. Today, I've had a good rest after a very quiet day, which marks a transitionary period before the next low-pressure area arrives.

I'm regularly losing ground over Philippe Monnet at the moment, as he went much further south than me and thus took a shortcut on this stretch. But when he found himself in the middle of the icebergs, he had to head back up north, and he lost more time then than he had gained. I'm therefore not worried about continually losing ground, as it will soon turn to my advantage.

Attempting a record is very different from a race, since you already know what your opponent achieved. It's true that in a race, seeing someone head off south, I'd be inclined to follow him to keep up with him. Now, however, there's no doubt about it, in a few days the gap will widen once again. We must stay calm!

See you tomorrow,

JL VDH

A day with Etienne Barlet's cuddly toy, a big squirrel with a bushy tail.