SYDNEY TO CAPE TOWN

15th March, 2001, day 5
Another lightwind start heralded the start of Leg 5 of the BT Global Challenge, 2000-2001. This is it. This is the leg we have all dreamed of completing but the one we have most feared. Out there on this 6500 mile leg are huge waves and fiercely strong winds awaiting us, that much we know. It is very much  back to foul weather gear, lifejackets and harnesses, back to life at thirty-five degrees all over again.

The first blow was dealt to Veritas just the other night. We could see a yacht 3 miles away from us in the distance on a similar course. Then suddenly, in the blackness, it turned around and went in the very opposite direction. An explanation of the imposed communications embargo told us that Veritas had a medical emergency on board and we wondered what exactly had happened. It transpired later that a freak wave had caught the yacht and two crewmen sitting on their windward rail (the high side) had been seriously injured. One had lost the top of a finger and had his race thus interrupted.  The other had broken his femur, had an open fracture of one ankle and had dislocated the other. His race is presumably over this time round. On the 'Isle of  Man', we could only empathise, wish them well and hope that the same does not happen to us!

It sounds frightening and at night in strong winds, it is.  And we are not yet out of sight of land. Still, not to worry, only thirty plus days to go........
           Jan Giffen.......off the coast of Tasmania at 43 44S 147 03E

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19th March, 2001, day 9
35 knots and the 'Isle of Man' is hurtling across the waves. The sturdiness of these craft fills us with confidence despite the volumes of water crashing across the deck and the violent motion as the yacht is thrown off yet another wave. Only yesterday, we were becalmed for two hours with zero boat speed and yet today we have quite the opposite with gusts over 40 knots. The Skipper calls for a headsail change - the bright orange storm staysail. Some eyes light up with glee while other, more fearful, crew members grit their teeth, tighten their storm cuffs and prepare for another ice-cold hammering.  The noise below decks can be likened to the noisiest of tube trains thundering through a tunnel with loud cracking, whip-like sounds as the sheets outside slap the coachroof. Those on motherwatch below wear their foul weather gear as protection from flying pots and pans and the threat of boiling water. At least it is daylight.

Today the Isle of Man is in joint 7th position in the polled results but only 25 miles behind the yacht in 2nd place, an insignificant distance when there are 4800 miles to go to Cape Town. The fleet leader, LG Flatron, is over 200 miles to the south. The immediate target is the wayline north of the Kerguelen Islands, there to ensure that the fleet stay clear of icebergs on this  38-40 day leg across one of the world's most inhospitable oceans. The length of the leg has been revised from the initial 35-37 days as in the 1996-97 race, the yachts sailed the same distance faster. We are told that at no time did they experience less than 10 knots of wind in the Southern Ocean as we have done, yet this time round, we have had less than 5 knots and lightweight spinnakers flying many times even here in the Roaring Forties.

Meanwhile in Canberra, the two Veritas crewmen are still in hospital. One has had operations on both ankles and a leg and is in quite a sorry state with broken ribs and more while the other has had a finger amputated at the knuckle. For their story and up-to-date information on their progress, see the race website: www.btchallenge.com
          Jan Giffen aboard the 'Isle of Man' at 49 24S 128 25E

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