2002 – 2003

Ocean Planet in the Around Alone – Update
Wednesday, February 12, 2003 1330gmt
Position: 44 47S, 171 06W

Hi all,

Still hanging in there at third! Every time I make a good move, I eagerly await the position reports only to find Thierry and Bernard just ahead. They are tough! When we are within sight they have a very, very slight speed advantage except in very light air. They are still quite a bit faster reaching but not as much as they did earlier in the race. The bottom line is that all of these boats are fast and capable of hanging on to a lead if they find a little bit better wind.

While in New Zealand, we set up all the gear on the boat in containers so I can shift it from side to side when tacking or jibing. It adds a good 20 minutes of work each maneuver but it seems to be helping and it’s good exercise….;-)

A have a lot of homework to do on weather and windshifts and my brain is getting a good workout too! Right now we are beating into about 17kts of SE wind, which should soon lighten and back to the east, NE, and then north sometime tomorrow. Right now we are beating into about 17kts of SE wind, which should soon lighten and back to the east, NE, and then north sometime tomorrow. The trick is deciding when to tack south as the wind shifts….we’ll see!

Thanks for following,
Bruce and Ocean Planet