Day 29, Saturday March 6, 1999

© Photo Richard Konkolski

By the end of the day Mouligne was only 85 miles from the finish line, but fighting headwinds and making only 6.7 five knots, as he reported: "You would think that with 160 miles to go I am basically there and starting to celebrate. Well, far from that... The wind is very strong and blowing directly from Punta del Este, which means that I have to cover 2 miles to gain one and my progress, seems incredibly slow. Going upwind in a blow is not only slow, it is very hard on the boat. The banging is terrible. In the dark and under autopilot Cray Valley gets to the top of the wave and falls heavily on the other side. It is a wonder how the mast is still there with some of the crashes we took last night."

J.P. Mouligne © Photo Billy Black

Ninety-eight miles back, Garside was loosing miles on leading Mouligne. In his earlier message he wrote: "Today has been very benign. Flat sea and an easterly for J-P and me and our speeds have been very consistent. He's not pulling ahead but I'm not catching him anymore. He's stopped me at the 75-mile mark. Poor Brad has had a day of calms which closed in just behind me. I sighed a big sigh of relief because it's given me back a lead of over 100 miles. With about 300 to run I'm feeling slightly more relaxed. Having said that, we are due for some very strong headwinds for 18 hours and I'm not counting my chickens. My main is totally finished and will blow apart at the puff of a magic dragon."

In third, Van Liew trailed Garside by 65 miles and fourth placed Yazykov was 579 miles from finish line.

© Photo Richard Konkolski

Positions:

Class 1

Class 2

Copyright © Richard Konkolski
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