Doha 2006 update

Paul Larsen reports on preparations for the Southern Ocean

Well that seems to have worked. By staying to the west and going around the outside of the high pressure system we managed to stay in good winds and crossed the associated 'ridge' with good speed all the way. Geronimo tried to cut the corner and took the inside route which was a riskier manoeuvre that hasn't appeared to have paid off.

Right now at 0915 GMT on the 18/2 we are trucking along downwind with all the big gear up. We are already below the latitude of Cape Town and main continental Australia. The weather is superb and life is good. Yesterday we made the most of the lighter winds by preparing the boat for the Southern Ocean conditions which will shortly be upon us. All the soon to be unnecessary sails such as the Code O, storm jib, solent and big gennaker (once we are finished with it today) have been hoisted, dried and stacked aft down below. Today all the fuel, food, gas, extra rope etc was also stacked and secured aft so as to keep the nose riding high when the surfing starts in earnest. It all adds up to tons and the change to the trim of the boat is quite noticable. The hatches and windows have all been Sikaflexed shut.

The mood onboard is great especially now that we are back in the lead. Being conservative in our approach to the rough conditions and our approach to the high has worked out well with a sound boat well positioned for the upcoming weather systems. Behind us we can see the cloud formation of the front we are currently riding ESE. It is expected to overtake us early next morning.

The sun is being enjoyed by everyone. Someone commented that if we were doing a Jules Verne course now that we would be somewhere around 1000 miles south of here right now. This course is just fine. It appears that the boat is provisioned well and that nothing is in short supply. In fact we may have a bit too much diesel onboard. The good thing about this is that it means that we can run the heater alot harder below decks and therefore trade weight for comfort. Musto Gore-tex is great but it can't compete with a diesel heater for warmth and dryness! Not below decks anyway.

The Fleet 77 appears to have packed it in which is a bit of a blow as it severely restricts the quality of the media we can send off the boat not to mention the amount of information that Will, our navigator, can download. Of course there are many backup plans that are quite reliable but the days of video conferences/transmission and web browsing are now gone. Johnny Malbon is working hard to fix the situation but very soon it will be too rough to remove the dome out the back. Of course it is no big thing from a performance point of view. It doesn't slow the boat down god forbid. From the crews point of view it is the loss of a little luxury that was quietly appreciated. Almost like unplugging the TV. The media side is where it hurts most as it was a great little window into our world for the public. To be able to walk to the front of the boat in a squall with a video camera, do an interview with a member of the crew in the thick of the action and then transmit it back to shore in a matter of minutes is pretty well close to live footage and is impressive when you consider the location and general circiumstances of a boat hurtling through the Southern Ocean some times as far from land as you can get on this planet. So come on Johnny boy, let's see some magic.

The position reports are still few and far between so we don't know how long Geronimo will be stuck in the high pressure if she is already trying to hunt us down. The other two further back look like they are going to have a harder time with the system we will be riding. It's always a good race to try and hook into the first front in the Southern Ocean as it can be very decisive to the overall result. We are pleased with the fact that the big tri Geronimo didn't seem to have any big advantages in the conditions we have seen so far. We feel confident in Doha 2006 with those that lie ahead.

It's all good.
Paul.