Posted by Graham Cox
The first week has been full of interesting stories. It is impossible to cover them all in this summary, so followers should also read the social media posts that the entrants have been posting. These can now be found in their own section of the ‘Live’ sub-directory on the Mini Globe Race website.
By 15 January, the skippers were settling in. Keri Harris on ORIGAMI was hanging on to his lead, while Renaud Stitelmann on CAPUCINETTE was steadily making inroads into his lead, only 11 miles behind, relegating Dan Turk on LITTLE BEA to third place. Renaud still found time to post pictures of his culinary successes on Facebook, and take pictures of passing boats, including, at one point, Pilar Pasanau on PETER PUNK.
At one stage, Dan Turk reported that LITTLE BEA was surfing at 8 knots under full main and working jib set wing and wing, and he eventually moved to the front of the pack for a while. Coming across from the east, Niels Kamphuis on LITTLE MONKEY, was relentlessly chasing down the leaders, moving up into 4th place. John Blenkinsop on DELJA 100, and Dan Turner on IMMORTAL GAME, were also working their way through the pack. This group have all been pushing hard, and it is no surprise that the distance to the finish (DTF) crown and rankings have been changing daily. On the evening of 20 January, CAPUCINNETE led the fleet, followed closely by ORIGAMI, LITTLE BEA, BIGGEST MONKEY, IMMORTAL GAME and DELJA 100.
Adam Waugh on LITTLE WREN is currently in 7th place, a bit north of the leading boats. He has had to repair his spinnaker after it got out of control in a squall, glad for the training in sail repairs he undertook before the start. Yesterday, he advised that he’d taken a bad fall on the foredeck, possibly cracking a few ribs and sustaining other minor injuries. He intends to continue on towards Antigua, but back off the pace a little. He was still averaging 4.5 knots, but his handicap might become more obvious when the winds ramp up in the next couple of days.
Jakub Ziemkiewicz, in 8th place on BIBI, is hanging onto the leaders’ coattails, while Pilar Pasanau, who has consistently maintained the pace with PETER PUNK since the start, chose to tack away to the west, even a little WNW, as did Christian Sauer on ARGO. By nightfall on 20 January, they had fallen behind the leaders, but when the fresh winds come back in, initially from the north before swinging NE, it will be interesting to see how much ground they can make up by cutting the corner to Antigua.
Christian Sauer noted that keeping to his sleep schedule and hearing the alarm clock was a real challenge, since he was sometimes sleep-deprived from hand-steering and adjusting the sails. He also commented that getting sufficient exercise was problematic. ‘I stretch as much as I can,’ he said, ‘but in the rocking conditions, the muscles tense up quickly – especially because you constantly have to hold onto something.’ In the light winds currently afflicting the fleet, he had his A3 and A7 poled out wing and wing. There were no waves, so the set-up was working well, with the Windpilot steering.
At the back of the fleet, NUMBATOU and DELJA 99 have been making slow but steady progress, each working through their own set of challenges. Jasmine had a rough night on the 14th, finding it hard to sleep, even when wedged down inside the quarter berth alongside the cockpit – she kept getting thrown out. But conditions eased on the morning of the 15th. She posted a smiling self-portrait on her Facebook page, noting that the boat was sailing easily with the jib poled out opposite the A7, and she was enjoying some real food at last. Even for someone inordinately fond of chocolate, sometimes you need a bit of variety.
Mike Blenkinsop (Popeye) said that winds had been patchy, combined with a sloppy sea state. He cooked a meal with his new stove on the cockpit floor, but the results were ‘messy’. He’d been reading a Jack Reacher thriller by Lee Child, something to pass the time that was not too taxing on the brain. At least the Hydrovane meant that he never had to steer. He said it was the best investment he’d made on the boat.
He’d done a lot of shopping in Marina Rubicon, and just stuffed stores into the forepeak behind its watertight door, due to lack of time to stow them properly. Trying to access these stores on the first night at sea, he discovered that a loose tin of food had managed to trigger the locking mechanism on the lower latch. Luckily, he had not locked the foredeck hatch from the inside, and the next morning he was able to squeeze in through that hatch and free the offending latch.
He also mentioned that sleeping with his head facing forwards felt a bit strange. ‘Can you imagine being torpedoed head first in big seas. The 580 lays up at the bottom of a wave, then throws you forward with the surfing wave. It feels a bit weird.’ He was down to 58kg, although gaining muscle. ‘I’m taking this character role of Popeye too seriously,’ he joked. ‘I’ve been eating a mixture of raw veggies, fruit, nuts, cereals with coconut water, cereal bars, and out of the packet ready-made meals with a few cans of tuna, baked beans and sweetcorn thrown in. Haven’t had the need to heat any water in the Jetboil yet. What I have been missing is a coffee in the morning. Today I mixed up a teaspoon of instant coffee in room temperature water, sounds yuck but was OK!’
On the 16th, Dan Turk noted he was getting plenty of rest, while his windvane self-steering unit, nicknamed Johnny G, did all the work. He finally has his appetite back. The breeze was blowing about 20 knots, with a sea swell of 15 to 18 feet, and some pesky 4 to 5 footers on top, seemingly coming from all directions.
On the same day, Niels wrote, ‘The boat is performing well. Nothing broken or wrong. The sun is keeping the batteries at 100%, and the windvane is doing everything it can. Most of the time that is okay, only the combination of waves and wind is not always helpful. I’ve chosen to go south first to be in the ‘safe zone’ for wind. Two or three days more in a southerly direction and then I think it is the right time to go west. We’ll see.’ He has since trended west with a vengeance.
On the evening of 19 January UTC, the first sat-phone calls from half the fleet gave us an inside glimpse into life aboard. Renaud Stitelmann said that CAPUCINETTE was slowing down, and that ORIGAMI was in sight to the north, about two miles off. This allowed Renaud to sleep for half an hour at a time without fear of collision, though he has his AIS switched on. He and Keri had chatted on the VHF and he said it was pleasant to have company.
He was sleeping well, about 6-8 hours a day, and enjoying life immensely. His fresh vegetables were almost finished, but he cooked something tasty every day. The night before, vegetables Au Gratin appeared on the menu, and he also baked a banana cake.
He estimated that he only hand-steered for about 2-3 hours a day. At the time of his call, he was sailing with the mainsail out one side and the A5 poled out, but earlier had the A3 on the pole. Most of the time, he either has the A5 poled out opposite the main, or in fresher winds sails with the twin jibs poled out. It is obvious that the two years of extensive sea-trials he undertook before the start have given him an advantage.
Dan Turner sounded upbeat, though mentioned that since his knockdown south of Gran Canaria, when he lost both dagger boards (they weren’t secured, and floated away) he has struggled with directional stability when hard-pressed. He wishes he had known more about setting twin jibs when rigging IMMORTAL GAME. At the time of the call, wind and seas had eased, and Dan was hand-steering with just the A3 flying in 10-12 knots of wind. Occasional gusts of 15+ knots were coming through, which required him to stay on the tiller. He planned to change down to the A5 when he got tired and re-engage the Hydrovane.
He had been sitting up to windward when the knockdown happened, and found himself on the leeward side of the cockpit, basically underwater, being dragged along with stuff going everywhere. To make matter worse, he was still feeling weak from a gastric infection contracted before leaving Lanzarote, not to mention the stress of navigating though intense shipping traffic and other yachts.
IMMORTAL GAME righted itself quickly, but the spinnaker was wrapped around the forestay, and it took him more than an hour to untangle it. Working on the foredeck didn’t help, as this tended to make the boat round up even more. Once he’d got the sails down, he lay ahull for a couple of hours and had a sleep. He also lost 10-20 litres of water, but is confident that, with careful monitoring, he has plenty to reach Antigua. But he is having fun, listening to music, and has even managed to read a book. He caught a small mahi mahi on the evening of his call, a welcome addition to his diet.
Popeye, aka Mike Blenkinsop, reported that DELJA 99 was still sailing at 3-4 knots, which surprised him, given how little breeze there was. He’d taken advantage of the light winds to cook an omelette. His fresh food was mostly gone, apart from one little pepper and a green tomato. Now that he’s got his stove working, he plans to cook more often, though wishes he had more of the ready-to-eat meals he found in Lanzarote, couscous with tomatoes, etc, which are intended to be heated but can be eaten straight out of the pouch. He remains wary of the Jetboil, knowing that a serious scald could lead to a medical emergency.
Mike is preparing himself and the boat for the boisterous weather ahead. He notes that the motion can be quite jerky, even in lighter winds, and one needs lots of convenient handholds. He has a helmet, but has only worn it a couple of times so far. On deck, he usually goes forward on his knees, using a pair of Gill kneepads that he finds very comfortable. So far, he has not had any injuries, just a couple of bruises where he slipped while swinging from one handhold to the next.
Mike’s son, John ‘Blinky’ Blenkinsop, was next on the line, full of his usual enthusiasm. He has been working hard, not necessarily pushing for the highest speed, but continually changing sails and trim, getting to know the boat. He views this transatlantic race as a practice run for the MGR. He says he is not really racing against anyone, and had no idea of where he was in the fleet. He was just keeping the boat moving well, and flying the kites as often as possible. The Hydrovane mostly steers, and he has been getting plenty of sleep. He already has a list of changes to deck layout and running gear that he will make in Antigua.
He has been experimenting with the Hydrovane, noting that it has a clutch system with three setting, and that the angle at which you set the vane (away from its vertical position) makes a big difference to its responsiveness. When the vane is optimised, he can set two of the asymmetric spinnakers (A7, A5 or A3) wing and wing, and the vane can handle it. Sometimes he has both daggerboards down, or just one in light airs, but remains uncertain about how helpful they are.
He says that the A7 is his favourite sail, and perhaps the most versatile in anything except light conditions. He also likes his furling working jib, which can easily be reefed to cope with strong winds. These boats carry a storm jib, and skippers may well use it by the time the MGR is over, but for now, the mainsail, A7 and roller-reefing jib do most of the work on DELJA 100.
John’s power consumption is manageable, though he tends to switch things off during the day when he is up and about, especially the GPS chartplotter with its large screen. The AIS stays on all night, but he only switches the GPS on when he needs it. Both John and Mike can generate power through their outboard motors but have not done so.
Water consumption is fine, with three litres allocated a day, which allows a small amount for rinsing dishes after washing them first in salt water. So far, he has not used any for personal hygiene, having a good supply of baby wipes for that purpose. John admits he is not a big reader, but has almost finished Catcher in the Rye, by J. D. Salinger, the famous novel about disaffected youth. He listens to music a lot, sometimes for about 4-5 hours a day, recharging his device every afternoon. It is obvious that he is having a blast.
Jakub Ziemkiewicz was drifting along at 2-3 knots in about 5 knots of wind when he called, running on the A5, but had earlier had the A3 up for the first time, having been given some lessons in its use by a very helpful female professional sailor in Marina Rubicon. He loved having it up, as it is very pink and brightened up his day.
Although he has seen winds of up to 20 knots, on average they have been around 15 (he went east of Fuerteventura Island, along with the two DELJAs, and missed out on the squalls). The Wind Pilot windvane has done all the steering, though he still has not had time to read books, as sail trim and other tasks keep him busy. One of his companionway steps broke and had to be glued and screwed back together, plus he improvised a tiller extension out of a brush handle. He said it looks odd but he is very pleased with it. The control lines from the windvane to the tiller kept wearing, until he realised that the line was too big for the pulleys, replacing it with thinner diameter Dyneema.
On another occasion, after taking down the A7 and hoisting the A5, he forgot to attach the tack. The sail flew up high, and while getting it down, it ended up in the water. Struggling to control it, he briefly considered letting it go, but was afraid it might get tangled in the keel. Eventually, he got it aboard, but it took two days to sort things out before he could hoist it again.
Jakub only has one spinnaker pole aboard, despite the ruling you should have two, and says he did not realise the importance of doing so. He has arranged to buy one from Niels on BIGGEST MONKEY when he gets to Antigua. In the meantime, he sheets the jib through a block at the end of the squared-off main boom, and poles the A7 out the other side.
He enjoys practicing celestial navigation, and is planning to take more sights during this calm spell. He wedges himself into the cockpit with his knees when taking sights. It probably looks funny, he joked, but it works well. Judging your height of eye above the sea at the moment you take the sight (one minute half a metre, the next two metres) adds to the challenge, but he was pleased that his sextant-derived positions were only three to ten minutes (latitude measurements equalling one mile each) different to his GPS readings.
He still had at least three days of fresh food left and plenty of oranges. He was unable to replenish his preferred supply of long-life milk in Lanzarote, so is now using powdered milk. He is also missing Irish butter, the best in the world, he claims. He has not been using much water. He has only used 20 litres so far and has 80 in reserve. He said he does not usually drink a lot, but is watching for symptoms of dehydration.
Jasmine was also just drifting along under her A5 in light airs. She said she wasn’t too concerned about going slow, knowing the wind and seas were soon going to get up again, and was enjoying the respite, managing to prepare good food and getting more sleep, though sleeping at night was difficult. She was having electrical problems, with one solar panel not working, battery power never above 40%, her tricolour masthead light had failed, and she was a little concerned about being run down by a ship. Ironically, the AIS alarm regularly woke her when she did try to sleep.
Asked if she was finding it tougher than her Atlantic row, she said not yet, although there was a psychological difference. On the row, there was no deadline to arrive, and she could just settle into the task, but she needs to get to Antigua before the start of the MGR on 23 February, hopefully with time to spare. This created a little mental pressure. It was not that she had a long list of work needed, but she wants to spend time learning how to sail more competitively.
Unfortunately, Jasmine’s signal was weak, and some of her comments were ‘lost in translation’. Eventually her call cut out, so we never got to find out how her chocolate supply was going. That would probably be the worst-case scenario for NUMBATOU. Despite struggling with her sailing skills, Jasmine sounded determined to continue. Once she has mastered the basics of competitive sailing, her drive and determination are likely to see NUMBATOU chasing the leaders around the world. On the morning after her call, she posted triumphant photos of NUMBATOU flying the A3 for the first time.
By the time the next weekly update is written, which will include sat-phone interviews with the other six skippers, the fleet will be deep in the heart of the tradewinds and barrelling west towards Antigua. By then, it will be more obvious whose strategy, or luck, has brought the greatest dividends, though the crown for the boat with the least distance DTF is likely to change hands more than once.
