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Ocean Planet in the Around Alone – Update
Monday, April 14, 2003 1200 gmt
Position 02 25 S 35 23 W
Hi all,
Wow, it’s been a very busy couple of days! Racing in light air is more work then when it’s windy….I’ve been using the big masthead kite a lot so I haven’t been able to sleep much and usually have to drive. But it has been fun as I had the kite up all day on my birthday, April 15th!
Ocean Planet is really fast in these conditions, and I have dropped Emma and Thierry but it’s been a lot of work. We are sailing into dropping winds, so Brad and Tim have been catching up from behind sometimes as they hold the wind longer. The big stunner has been the brilliant moves by Bernard and Simone who both caught better pressure and angle near the shore two nights ago and have completely escaped the light air the rest of us are battling with.
Both Thierry and Emma must be having a terrible time watching them streak away as Thierry hopes for first and Emma’s hold on third are being dashed to bits! There is a long way to go, but it will be hard to make up what will soon be 200 miles or more.
Once the reaching starts in the tradewinds I will have a hard time staying ahead of the other 60s, so I’m trying to get as big a gap as possible. Then if I can stay close until past the Caribbean it will be a fun battle to the finish.
Gotta go gybe the big kite, talk to you later!
Bruce and Ocean Planet