JV Slugfest I–Geronimo Reeling: Life has been brutal aboard Geronimo for the past few days as they try to survive a true Southern Ocean storm. De Kersauson and his team have worked their way north, which has reduced the blast they are enduring from 50 knots to 35 knots. But The Admiral has been shaken by the experience and even hints that they may have to abandon their attempt if the risk of capsize becomes too great. Ironically, they are still more than 600 miles ahead of Orange 2002 (though significantly behind Cheyenne’s pace). It’s rare to hear De Kersauson so beaten, which is a measure of how bad things have been:

“We’re not racing anymore, we are just suffering,” De Kersauson said from the boat. “The sea is incredibly violent, dangerous, hard, icy and dense. It’s moving from the pack ice up to our latitudes and further at between 30 and 35 knots. I’ve been here many times before, but I’ve never been attacked like this – I get the impression that it’s already winter and we’re too late. The sea is coming at us from the south and the wind is beam-on to our route. We’re surfing at 35 knots with very little canvas. It’s not the wind that’s giving us the problem, because if it were, then all we’d have to do is shorten sail and Geronimo would stay manageable. As things are, it’s the sea that’s making the decisions and sending us off downwind or wherever it wants. It’s wholesale slaughter. We’re trying to get further south at the moment, because if it carries on the way it is, we won’t even be able to get round Cape Horn. The depression is a long way north and very active. It’s blocking our route and forcing us as far north as 48 or even 46° – it’s sidelining us. We’ve still had no breakages on Geronimo, either because the boat’s so well made or because it’s a miracle. What’s certain is that we can’t stay in seas like this for too long, because something’s bound to get broken sooner rather than later. I’m looking at it from every angle, but I can’t see any way out. The door is closed. This depression spreads over 5° from north to south and 20° from east to west. We’re already 4° further north, but it’s not enough. We’re going to be forced to go 8 or 9° – nearly 1000 kilometres… To put it bluntly, things are not good…

There’s no fun in it, no competition, what we’re doing now has nothing to do with a record. This crew is all about attacking, but for four days, we’ve done nothing but curl into a ball and submit. The guys are physically worn out. It’s impossible to sleep below decks and above decks, things are really wild. Geronimo is surfing at between 25 and 27 knots under mast alone. It’s out of hand and exhausting. Didier (Ragot) has been confined to his berth for three and a half days after damaging his lower back. Otherwise, nothing’s broken, nothing’s fractured, no open cuts, just bruises and terrible fatigue. It’s sheer brutality coming from every side…

We’ve been off course for 4 days. We’re just surviving, and like all survivors, we hope that things will get better in the next 48 hours. If nothing changes, the only thing we’ll be able to do is to run for the north and not round the Horn at all…In 2 or 3 days, we’ll have to evaluate the true risk. As things are, we can’t risk capsizing the boat. At this time of the year, in these waters… we’re not in the North Atlantic where there are people around. If you capsize here, you’re dead.”

Chilling stuff, and it’s hard to second guess the guy. It must be a nightmare out there. Hope things improve, because these sailors deserve a break and it would be nice to see them finish…



“I’m so damn tired. Maybe I’m finally getting too old for this sh*t….”

Leave a comment