2002 – 2003

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Ocean Planet in the Around Alone – Update
Saturday, April 19, 2003 1245gmt
Position 02 18 N 39 35 W
Heading: 314T at 10.5kts

Hi all,

Oh boy, this final leg is going to be quite a race. As we now enter the Atlantic tradewinds, the boats in front have been steadily gaining as they enter the increasing winds first. As Bernard and Simone have opened up a huge lead on all of us, I have opened up a gap of over 150 miles on Thierry.

But this will soon start to rapidly diminish as Thierry enters the same tradewind beam reaching that I’m already in and he begins to pick up speed. It’s going to be a battle! While I had an advantage in the lighter winds, in the upcoming 1500 mile reach it will be tough to stay in front of the famous Frenchman and his speedy boat as long as possible. Emma is fast on a reach too, and we can’t forget about her!

So, I’ve been working hard on different sail combinations trying to find every ounce of speed I can and using double headsails a lot. This morning I’ve switching through the heavy reacher and working jib, with and without the staysail, reef in, reef out, etc. In the attached pic from yesterday, you will see the staysail and working jib working well together. This is what I’ve settled on for now with a single reef in the main. Go boat go!

Also attached is a fuzzy pic of Emma taken from a distance a few days ago….

Back to racing,
Bruce and Ocean Planet