Day 08, Saturday February 13, 1999

Thiercelin's Somewhere © Photo Marek Slodownik

The remaining three boats of Class I fleet passed 52 degrees south latitude. Thiercelin was firmly holding the lead with Isabelle only 35 miles behind and Soldini in third, only 37 miles behind Autissier. All three boat were averaging 16 knots and making good progress towards Cape Horn.

© Photo Richard Konkolski

The Southern Ocean was cowered all across with number of low-pressure systems, which indicated that the sailing could be bumpy but fast, as Isabelle describe it in her email: "Fairly peaceful day, with two jibes. I'm near a low that right now doesn't seem very active; moderate winds, which will probably pick up. For the moment, I'm heading directly for the Pacific waypoint. The lows are passing pretty far to the north, so there is no point in going up to find them. The weather is squally, and I have to keep a close watch on my heading. In the gusts, the boat shoots off pretty brutally. A little while ago, I was knocked off the chart table bench and landed on my head... Not many birds, but very beautiful play of light in the squalls. I am slowly catching up with Marc, which is nice, though it doesn't mean much. The real race will happen on the way north after Cape Horn."

The mandatory waypoint was set at 55 S and 120 W. All boats must pass north of this position except dismasted Josh Hall, who was making slow progress toward the Chatham Islands, still over 200 miles away. He hardly covered 46 miles within the last 24 hours.

Garside and his Magellan Alpha © Photo Billy Black

About 540 miles further back, the Class II leader Mike Garside was doing over 11 knots. He reported: "I have held my slender lead now for just 24 hours and already JP is chewing into it. Yesterday he was 78 miles astern and today he has closed the gap to 48. Somehow he manages to sail more than a knot faster than I do. It drives me mad!"

Actually, by the end of the day Mouligne was only 30 miles behind leading Mike. "I have pushed hard in the last 24 hours trying to make up some of my deficit and I was glad to pass Balance Bar and get in second position," he wrote. "I now have to catch up Mike and try to create a good lead…."

Cray Valley © Photo Billy Black

"In the last 12 hours I have had Cray Valley almost constantly between 16 and 20 knots, the boat never stops to amaze me."

Viktor Yazykov in fourth was 266 miles behind his Class II leader. He covered his first one thousand miles since Auckland and had a good day run of 262 miles. He was still not able to inspect his boat from outside after hitting the log. He had no signs of damage and the outside inspection he left for calmer days.

© Photo Richard Konkolski

Positions:

Class 1

Class 2

Copyright © Richard Konkolski
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