Getting chilly

Jean-Luc van den Heede now five days ahead of Philippe Monnet's westabout round the world record

Day 26. Position at 1300: 38°12’S / 52°44’W
Wind 23 knots from SSW. Moderate sea.
Temperatures: day 19°C / night 14°C / sea 18°C
Distance covered in the last 24 hours: 190 miles.
To Cape Horn 1,226 miles.
Lead over Monnet: 5 days and 1 hour.

Hi there,

After the very weak wind last night, a front will be going over this morning with a strengthening wind. The genoa has been changed for the Solent, I’ve come around and taken a reef in the mainsail...I don’t have time to get bored.

After the clouds went over, the sky cleared up completely and there’s not a single cloud left in the sky. The sea became rough quite quickly and there are white horses on the crests of the waves. The only drawback with all that is that the wind has gone around to the south southwest, which is the course I should be on, so I’ve had to head further west.

As you can see, the sea temperature, as measured by the detector underneath Adrien’s aluminium hull, has fallen very quickly. And on my chart of the Southern Atlantic, I’ve entered the zone referred to as "Ultimate limit of floating ice from 1947 to 1962". But, even if last year, a little ice was seen off Mar del Plata, where I am, the risk of coming across any here is almost non-existent.

See you tomorrow,

JL VDH

A day with Bernard Jambert’s pink and white cuddly toy.