Four hours behind

Into the southern hemisphere, Steve Fossett's maxi-catamaran has good condition ahead

Now into the southern hemisphere Steve Fossett and the crew of Cheyenne are eating up the miles on their non-stop eastabout round the world record bid. The last 24 hours have seen them cover a useful 433 miles as they beam reach in 15-20 knots of ESEerly wind.

As Brian Thompson points out below the conditions look set to go light for the team on Wednesday. It is a shame the team aren't four or five days ahead of where they are at the moment because at present there is a lot of pressure between the South Atlantic high and a Southern Ocean depression to the southwest with a nice passage of strong northwesterlies between them. The depression is attempting to force the high in an ESEerly direction, but the forecast shows that eventually the depression sinks south and a barrier of high pressure forming right across the South Atlantic.


Brian Thompson reports from on board:

So we have entered the Southern Hemisphere, and with a spectacular ceremony of initiation for Mark. We crossed around midday and Mark was summoned from his position in the cockpit by two apparitions from below, King Neptune and his helper Badger Bag, alias Guillermo and Damian, who prodded him to the mast base with their tridents, strapped him to the netting and proceeded to persecute him most vilely. It was one of the funniest scenes you could imagine, men wrapped in toilet paper pouring slops and Tabasco over Mark's back, pushing a flying fish down his shorts and forcing him to put a squid soaked in yet more Tabasco in his mouth. I must say Mark took it very well and was a worthy initiate. We hope this has satisfied the gods and they will
now grant us a safe passage.

The other event today was a sea change in fashion as most of the crew take on the moustache and goatee look sported by Guillermo. Even Adrienne joined in for a while with a black electrical tape equivalent. At the end of the trip we are planning a spot the Guillermo competition.

Just before crossing over the line, we had the wind shift from the NE Trades to the SE Trades, the skies started to clear and a swell from the SE arrived. The doldrums passage was very smooth, only a couple of squalls that slowed us slightly, otherwise we kept up close to 20 knots of boat speed throughout. Last night the trade winds were up to 20 knots and shifting ahead with a lumpy seaway, so we reefed down to one reef and the staysail. As this morning has passed the wind is starting to back a little behind us and we have one reef and the solent up making good speed down the course.

We have at least two days of good sailing ahead, perhaps three, before we are forecast to run into the weak and expanding South Atlantic High. Between Adrienne, Steve and the shore router in the USA, Commander's Weather, we are trying to come up with an optimum route through this area. Fortunately for our record attempt Orange also had a slow run at this point so even with a mediocre run we should be able to stay up with the record pace. Currently we are 80 miles behind Orange, approximately four hours sailing time.

Gear on deck is a mixed bag, some going for being hot in full foul weather gear, others going for the cool but wet option of shorts and t-shirts, and some with a combination of the two. Wildlife tally has been low again today, a couple of dolphins briefly visited us before the equator, and Nick spotted a bird he thought was a shearwater. As we get into colder water things should become more interesting..

Will keep you posted, Brian