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WSSR Newsletter No 60

They've done it!

58 Days 9 Hours 32 mins 45 secs

New Round The World Sailing Record for Fossett and Crew on Cheyenne

Nearly 6 days faster than previous mark

© Thierry Martinez 2004
www.thmartinez.com

"The past 24 hours were slow at first, but improving winds became very strong by the time we crossed the line with 2 reefs and staysail it was very dramatic we had our hands full - around this island the tides were whirling. Everyone is just so happy we are all emotionally drained. It's quite a celebration. Everybody on this crew is absolutely delighted; this is a satisfying moment for all of us."

Brian Thompson writes: Final Daily Report - Tuesday 6 April 2004

"Here we are in Plymouth, and I am now looking out of the window at Sutton Harbour. Fishing boats sit in the calm waters, overlooked by the buildings that have stood there since Drake first played bowls on Plymouth Ho.

The big cat lies alongside her dock, finally resting after being pushed and cajoled around the planet for 58 days. On board it is eerily silent, no sound of rushing water past the inch thick hull, no sound of winches being turned, or voices from the deck, or hatches being slammed, or rudders humming with the sound of speed. She deserves the rest, a chance to lick her wounds and recover. She has done us proud.

We can now reflect on the end of another voyage, the fastest ever around the world by a margin of six days. As we were told on the dock last night; we will always be the first crew to have circumnavigated in less than 60 days. The record may stand for 3 weeks or 3 years, and one day it will be broken, but it won't be an easy task to beat 58 days and 9 hours. It will take a very fast, reliable boat, a top crew and a healthy ration of luck with the weather.

The strange thing is that it feels like we have never been away; we are in the same country, the same dock, the same hotel, we ate in the same restaurant, maybe I am even in the same hotel room. It's like a video that has been played forward, and now reversed, and we are walking backwards from the boat to the hotel, and tomorrow returning to our lives outside the confines of Cheyenne, just as we joined her 2 months ago.

I suppose that I am used to long voyages ending somewhere else. Often somewhere warmer and tropical, and now we are only back in the same place. It makes it harder to appreciate that we have actually travelled, but the truth is, we could not have gone any further.



Yesterday was one of the most memorable days of my life; as we counted down the miles to the line, 25 miles for each hour, we all felt increasingly certain that we could hold it together till the end. For the last hour a helicopter shadowed us as we closed in on Ushant.

The final surprise for us was encountering a vicious tidal race just 2 miles from the finish; the waves were so violent that they stopped the boat from its 25 knot pace to just 10 knots, and it seemed that only the favourable spring tide was propelling us past the rocks of Ushant. We hastily rolled the staysail and in the very middle of the maelstrom put a second reef in the main. It seemed as if the boat was going to shake to pieces. Fortunately, out the other side of the race the seas flattened out, and it was in a sense of deliverance and jubilation that minutes later we crossed the real finishing line.

We jumped, and hugged, shook hands, took photos of each other and waved at the cameras flying overhead. It was a great moment. A huge sense of relief that we had done it, that we had not failed, in fact we had succeeded beyond our wildest expectations.

After that we had a rapid reach over to the coast of Devon, averaging over 20 knots with just a double reefed main in the 30 knots of chilly wind. Nobody slept, we did not want another meal of freeze dried food, everyone just joked and talked together for those 6 hours.

The reception at the dock in Plymouth Yacht Haven was fantastic, it was late on a cold Monday night and the pier was sinking under the numbers of people there to see us arrive. We let off handheld flares on our final approach to the dock and as we threw the final dock lines we could see the faces of our family and friends, waving and cheering. It was great to be reunited and after all the photos had been taken and the interviews given, we went ashore for food and a few celebratory drinks.

Arriving in Plymouth
© Mijkle Featherstone 2004

Tonight we are having a big crew dinner in Plymouth, and then tomorrow we will be dispersing to all corners of the globe to catch up with family and continue on with our lives.

I will be taking a long-awaited holiday and am already thinking about my next sailing adventure.

I'll keep you posted.

Brian"

David Scully's final report

This is, I hope, the last communication you will receive from me at sea.

The micro-depression has released us, and we are again on course for le Stiff light with an ETA sometime Monday afternoon.

So...have I answered your questions? I think we covered the usual ones.

What do you eat? Where do you sleep? Do you anchor for the night? What about going to the head?

The only outstanding questions are: would you do itagain, and why do it in the first place?

To answer the first question first, yes, I would. This is my second successful circumnavigation, out of three attempts. The first was as a competitor in the BOC Singlehanded Race. The second was as part of "The Race", which we were forced to abandon. I would do it again because the greatest luxury in life is to concentrate on one thing, and that, here on our little platform, we have been able to do. I would do it again because it is a priviledge to experience our planet from this point of view, and to be a part of the great physical scheme that makes our world work. I would do it again because I love the action and the energy of sailing in the deep south.

Why do it? For the record? The record is a worthy goal, but beyond that has no real signifigence compared to the achievment of the goal. The late Dale Earnhardt, of stock car racing fame, once said something about the real miracle of car racing is not the car performance, but finding 20 guys who you can trust to drive, bumper to bumper, around a track together at 200 mph.

Breaking the record is an incidental consequence of the teamwork it took to achieve it.

When we launched Cheyenne, then PlayStation, naval architect Robert Perry described her as possibly the most dangerous boat ever built. Having sailed her for four years and countless record attempts, I would not dispute his point of view, Twelve guys and a girl have succeeded in getting her around the planet in a time a few hours in excess of her calculated theoretical potential of 58 days. The skill, resourcefulness, and determination of all the crew came together to achieve the goal. I am proud to have been a part of that, and that is a good reason to do it.

When we were battering across the Indian Ocean, I had a real feeling of what it might have been like to be on a Clipper ship, halyards padlocked to the cleats in an all consuming lust for performance. We are the clipper captains of the modern era, testing technology against nature, dancing on the edge of the precipice dividing seamanship and stupidity.

Another reason to do it is to be able to share it with you sailing enthusiasts, who, I hope, have been entertained, and, in some cases, inspired by our adventure. Judging by some of the mail we have received, there are those who have enjoyed a vicarious thrill via these pages. Thank you for your readership and support.

I leave you with a good line for returning adventurers, from T.S. Eliot's

"Four Quartets".

"At the end of all our wanderings, we return to the place of our very beginning, and see it, as if for the first time."

Justin Slattery UPDATE 17 CHEYENNE

April 5th 2004 9:43 am. Day 58

What a long night last night was! We've been a little delayed by light winds as a high pressure ridge formed over us yesterday. For 6-8 hours this reduced our speeds to 5-10 kts but we punched through it and we're back on track now chewing up the miles, 22-28 kts boat speed, wind of 20 kts from the southwest, pointing directly at Ouessant with 114 miles to go. Five hours more at this pace! Determination evident on everyone's face! No one wants to spend another night out here!

A half an hour ago. A very loud bang stunned everyone and our solent sail came crashing down! The Halyard broke! 15 minutes we we're back up to speed using our gennaker 2:1 halyard at 3/4 hoist which is doing the job nicely.

Once across the finish line we'll change our course and head for Plymouth - this will probably take us an estimated 5-6 hours to complete the 120 mile - hopefully relaxing, no drama, easy going delivery to our final destination! I have suggested that we crank the gear on and fly a hull maxed out all the way home! - I didn't get much support though! I think everyone has had quite enough!

Justin Slattery

Day 58!

Not 18,000 miles, not 1800 miles, just 180 miles to go...The coast of France is coming up fast on the charts. We keep having to change scale as we approach, exposing more and more detail of the coastline. It’s a perfect morning, the sun has just come up and we are making 20 knots towards the finish line at Ushant. We expect to finish this afternoon.

Yesterday was one of our slower days, just under 300 miles sailed, as we had to pass through a high pressure ridge that was blocking our way. This caused us 15 hours of sailing under 10 knots of speed. It was always going to be slow, and at least we kept moving all the time, and on course. We spent a lot of time with our Code 0 sail on the bowsprit, our lightest sail.

Now the wind is about 15 knots and forecast to increase to 20-25 by this evening. If all goes well we should reach Plymouth between sunset and midnight. The moon will be bright so I am looking forward to seeing the rolling hills of Devon and Cornwall painted in silver, as we enter Plymouth Sound tonight.

It is a little hard to believe that the trip is almost over and that this routine of life on board, is about to end. If we do finish today then we will have set a fantastic time, one that we could not have expected at the beginning of the voyage. We have had our slow days, and our equipment problems, some of them very serious, but then we have had huge doses of good luck to counterbalance that. Most of the sailing has been great, and the experience of sailing in the Southern Ocean was priceless. I have learnt an incredible amount on the trip, about sailing and life in general. I have also made a lot of good friends on board, and heard from many old friends, who have written to me through my website. Thank you so much for all the messages.

Our last watch of the record is coming up, the last one for Steve, Damian, Nick and myself to spend standing in the cockpit, working, talking and looking out over the ocean at the waves, the clouds and the stars. Tomorrow morning at dawn there will be no more trimming, helming, changing sails, getting cold, hot, wet or sun baked. I will be waking up in a warm bed and looking out over Sutton Harbour, the seagulls calling and the sound of traffic humming by on the tarmac.

It will be interesting to see how it feels to be back on dry land after 58 days at sea. Normally the only really strange experience is being a passenger in a car; the speed, the silence and the smoothness is very bizarre. When the car goes over 30 miles an hour you can find yourself reaching out for the mainsheet traveller, ready to ease, but you can't find it..

There will be lots of great things to look forward to. Family, friends, the smell of land, fresh food. On the other hand after so long in such a clean, quiet environment (outside the boat, anyway), there are some things I do not look forward to; pollution, crowds, traffic, the news..

Either way it’s all rushing up fast, soon it will be 18 miles to go, then 1.8 miles, and then we will be done...

Will write when we finish.

Brian

Today I have another sail change picture.
Not far to go now! See you soon.
© Nick Leggatt 2004

End Day 58: 202 miles to go

'Micro depression' Sunday delays Cheyenne drive to line by several hours 294 miles run over past 24 hours (12.25 kts avg) Latest estimate to cross finish line 1500 GMT Monday - (approx 58 days 10 hours) Arrival home in Plymouth late Monday evening

"They are out of the last sticky spot. I estimate they will finish around 1500 GMT - they should accelerate from here to the finish."

Damian Foxall - days 56 - 57 Diary:

Micro-depression still slows Cheyenne through Sunday evening

Finish expected Monday 1200 - 1800 GMT at Ouessant; Plymouth later that night 320 miles SW of Ouessant, France

"We now have enough information to estimate a finish time. It should be between 12z and 18z Monday. We are moving on course at 9 knots. Improvement in windspeed is not expected until 03z."

Micro Depression

Dave Scully's report on today's micro-depression delaying line crossing a bit...

"In sailing as in life, one minute you are sailing along at good speed, on course with all sails drawing, and then, all of a sudden, tout d'un coup, completely unexpectedly and without warning, the wind drops, the fog rolls in, the sails flap, and you are headed 90 degrees. "What's up", you ask, " I have an weather forecasts, ETA's, people to see, plans and hotel reservations. WHAT the hell is going on?" The answer is.....you have sailed into a Micro depression.

And that where we are right now, readers, slapping through a minor weather phenomena, too small to spot in the synopsis, but big enough to bring us to a dead halt. I believe that these micro depressions probably form on concentrations of plans and ideas of what one will do when one finishes. The rising hot air generated by the discussion of these ideas sucks up cold surface air, disrupting gradient wind flow, creating dense fog, and dampening expectations. They are generally brief in duration, but may interact with larger scale circulation to create progressively later and later arrival times. (for more information, look up "Temporal and Spatial Ambiguities Triggered by the Approaching FInish of Long Distance Sailing Events", by the same author.)

Meanwhile, Neptune is chuckling in his undersea command center, watching the little green boat on his PC screen and saying, "You didn't really expect me to let you just reach across the line, did you? Not without at least one more wander through sail inventory?"

356 nm to go. At this rate, we will finish in 3 or four days. Sic subito transit gloria Cheyennis. See you for Easter, and any Lenten pledges to abstain from alcohol will be well fulfilled.

Actually, this band may be only 30 to 50 miles wide, so it will serve more to frustrate the media than to deter us from our objective. We are counting down the final watches. The best food from the reserve store will be broken out tonight, and we may even tap the dregs of the gas bottle for a hot brew tonight.

TIme to go and hold the wheel in the fog."

Jac Vincent Jour 57

"bonjour

quelques chiffres a la hausse
Depuis l'equateur les chiffres sont tres bons

Jeudi matin day 54- 483 miles parcourrus
Vendredi day 55 - 489 miles
Samedi day 56- 590 miles
Dimanche day 57 - 497 miles a 430 miles de l'arrivee (ouessant)- 5 jours d'avance sur le record

Dificile de ne pas y croire. l'equipage de cheyenne est surexite et le reglement interieur est un peu neglige. Le barreur, normalement isole dans sa concentration, participe aux conversations, On pioche dans les provisions des jours 60, 61 ,62 ...On oublie d'avaler nos pillules de vitamines, Steve, qui a toujours montre le bon exemple, ne met plus son harnais pour barrer.... Nos 2 kiwis se demandent si apres 2 mois de sobriete ils pourront dignement satisfaire leur soif...de biere !

Que de regles bafouees et la ligne n'est pas encore coupee. Par contre toute les heures une patrouille verifie tous les points faibles du bateau.

L'atlantique nord a deroule le tapis rouge devant nos etraves. L'anticyclone s'est gentillement ecarte et une depression nous a delicatement accompagne jusqu'en espagne sans nous bousculer. La lune a eclaire nos nuits. Des conditions de reve.

Nous avons empanne a 100 miles des cotes Espagnol dans 16 noeuds de vent du SW et nous sommes en route directe sur ouessant.

Cote meteo, la depression qui nous a escorte devient stationnaire au large du portugal et sans transition nous accrochons les vent d'ouest au nord d'un anticyclone centre sur l'espagne et au sud d'une depression centree au nord de l'angleterre.

Notre arrivee est estimee pour lundi en fin de matinee, avec des vents de NW et ciel bleu....ca nous va ! Une fois la ligne franchie nous continuerons notre voyage vers Plymouth, la ou il a commence.

Ciao
Jac

cheyenne dimanche a 12 h par 43 N et 12 W"

Brian Thompson writes on Sunday

"We sailed another night on our global voyage without incident, and so only one more night to go before we should finish. We are almost abeam of Cape Finisterre now, and so we have to cross the Bay of Biscay, and sail 480 miles, before we can call this mission completed. Winds are looking lightish, but our forecasters are confident we can finish sometime late Monday morning.

Even if delayed it should be daylight when we arrive in Ushant, which is great, as we will have spent 58 days at sea to return to this little rocky island, and to see it as we finally pass by, will make the finish all the more memorable.

Yesterday we had another great days sailing, and put almost 500 miles behind our transoms. The day started off a little squally but soon settled into sunshine and steady winds. These winds slowly went behind us, so by the afternoon we had set our big downwind sails. We kept the big gennaker up all night, and just at dawn we gybed on to port, heading north. It's been nearly 10 days on starboard tack, since well before the equator, and not far north of Rio.

We will be finishing in the typical westerly winds of the North Atlantic for the last 12 hours. Most boats in the past have had to go around the Azores High, then spend the last several days in the westerlies, and consequently sailed a longer route. We have been very lucky, with a low pressure temporarily replacing the Azores High and letting us sail a more direct course up to the east of it. We still have to go through a transition area today, from the Southerlies we have been getting, to the Westerlies, and this will cause the light airs. Already the wind is down to 13 knots, and it should drop more until later in the afternoon, when it should then start to pick up again and increase close to 20 knots by the end of the night.

All is good on board; all the various repairs we have made, seem to be holding in there, touch wood. Dave's eye is much better, he can go on deck without his Terminator style, single lens sunglasses, and his vision in the eye is rapidly getting back to normal. Nick's scar is healing up much better than you would expect if you first saw the cut, and I am standing in for his mother, making sure he puts sun block on it every day.

We saw several turtles swimming their way around the Atlantic yesterday. They were about a meter long, and light brown in colour. They did not have time to do their usual duck dive down, before we had flashed past them. Also saw dolphins twice, they were leaping above the waves to get a glimpse of us, as we dived for our cameras or just enjoyed the show.

Brian"