“Wrong-Way” VDH Update–“Don’t Forget About Me”: With maxi cats carving up the oceans, and hoping to carve up the record books, spare a thought for singlehander Jean Luc Van Den Heede, who is well on his way to smashing the non-stop solo record, sailing westabout against the prevailing winds. VDH is 96 days into his voyage, and over the weekend passed South Africa’s Cape of Good Hope, the last Great Cape of his voyage. He and “Adrien” are now working their way north toward the Equator, with a massive 26 day lead over the record pace. This is VDH’s fourth attempt at this record, and it looks as if his persistence is about to pay off. He still has to negotiate the windless Doldrums, but the only serious threat to finishing with a new record is 1) if he loses his mast; and 2) if he hits a floating object like a container, and either holes the boat or loses his rudder. So VDH is sailing very carefully and keeping his fingers crossed. The mental stress is building:

Everything has disappeared again! The nice SSE wind that I’d had since rounding the Cape of Good Hope has become unreliable in strength and direction, the Sun has gone in behind the clouds, which have now made the sky overcast, even the birds think I’m too far away from their homes… Only the swell remains, but that is something I could quite do without, as it stops my spinnaker from staying filled up, and it makes my mainsail swing around from one side to the other, in spite of being clamped to the boom.

In these circumstances, when the boat rolls from one side to the other, because there isn’t enough wind, the strain on the rigging and sails is huge, and always worries me, as there’s nothing I can do when this happens.

This is arguably the most brutal record in sailing, so don’t let VDH’s modesty fool you. He’s quietly putting up a BIG, BIG number…..



“Thank God I put my shorts on before that helicopter arrived….”