JV Jumble–Cheyenne Is Scorching: It’s all good on the opposite side of the globe for Steve Fossett and his 12 crew aboard the big cat. Over the weekend, they “claimed” a new record for sailing across the Indian Ocean, hit the geographical halfway point in their voyage, crossed the International Date Line, and nailed their first 600-plus mile day (623 miles). Whew. All that adds up to a more than 2000 miles lead over Orange 2002 (chart here; though Orange is so far back she isn’t even visible anymore).

First, things first: the new record. This is a beautiful gambit by the Fossett team. ‘Til now, the only record anyone paid attention to for the Indian Ocean was Cape of Good Hope to Cape Leeuwin (a record which Fossett and Cheyenne just missed). But, lo’, the CIA World Fact Book (yes, the CIA World Fact Book), says that the Indian Ocean extends from the Cape of Good Hope to Southeast Cape, Tasmania. So Fossett’s guys had a look at previous passages and estimated theirs was fastest. Presto, a new “unofficial” world record which they hope other boats will now try to better. TWC e-mailed Fossett HQ to ask about this “invented” record. A slightly injured Fossett HQ responded that the record was not “invented,” By God, just “identified.” Best of all, using this new geographical standard means that Fossett will probably be able to claim a “new” Pacific record as well. The record breaking world is an interesting one. We’ll see if anyone pays any attention at all.

TWC also sent some e-mail questions to the boat. Nick Leggatt, photographer and onboard limerick champion, responded:

1) What’s the top speed anyone has seen on the speedo? “Top speed I have seen is only just over 33 knots. We haven’t really been trying for really high top end speeds, rather for a good average.”

2) What’s the top wind speed you’ve seen? “Top wind speed was between 50 and 60 knots, and that was crossing the English Channel on the way to the start line! Since the official start I don’t think we have seen much over 40 – once again we are trying to route the boat along a track that will ensure good average boatspeeds – ie one with flatter seas and moderate winds.”

2) How’s the new spinnaker working out? What wind angles and wind speeds do you sail with it? “The new spinnaker has not been used much yet so we are still trying to

figure out the ideal conditions for it. Basically it is for running really deep angles in strong winds but ideally we would rather be sailing faster angles in lighter winds.”

3) What’s the biggest maintenance worry? “As far as maintenance is concerned, obviously the forestay gave us a bit of nasty surprise in the South Atlantic and now that we have repaired it we spend a lot of time checking for any signs of movement in it. Otherwise we have a set daily routine for checking the boat inside and out, from bow to stern, and so far we have a good record of catching maintenance issues before they get out of control. The further we sail the more careful we have to be about looking for general signs of wear on sheets and sails, etc.”

4) What’s the best/worst (it’s the same, I guess) limerick that has been posted in the galley?

“There once was a writer called Tim

who contacted us on a whim

now he wants tales

of wear on our sails

but there is none we can see for him.” (Hmmm, Nick is obviously a bit tired).



Under New Zealand: Kiwis Fraser Brown and Mike Beasley pine for a loved one to the North….

(Photo: Nick Leggatt)

Have A Wetass Weekend…



Michael Ho Livin’ Large At Pipeline

(Photo: Mark Berkowitz)

TWC Quick Hits….:

Two French Climbers Will Try To Climb All 82 4,000 Meter Alps in 82 Days: Boy, are they going to be tired…

Russian Arctic Research Station Consumed By Shifting Ice Floes: Twelve stranded scientists now conducting hypothermia studies…

U.S. Navy Uses Dolphins To Combat Underwater Terrorists in Persian Gulf: Civil rights groups complain Arab scuba divers are being singled out…



“Just remember. First you ask them for a photo ID, and then you ask them to remove their flippers. And make sure you pull over an old lady every once in a while…”

Arctic Adventurers–Ready To Take The…Plunge: Trans-Arctic skier Ben Saunders, and North Pole soloer Wave Vidmar, report that the Russkies have finally put down their vodka bottles and agreed to provide airlift to Sredny, then on to Cape Arkticheskiy at the edge of the ice pack. Except–little problem–the ice pack isn’t, err, ice anymore. In fact, it looks like this…

Uh-oh. Here’s Wave Vidmar’s report:

“Bettina Aller, one of the other expeditioners called a satellite weather monitoring service in her native country of Denmark and they report there was 70 kilometers of open water around the Cape. This could be a serious and dangerous problem. If there is that much open water, then I will ask to be flown further north until there is ice.

Each year the ice is decreasing, by about a rate of about 1%, or 10% every decade. Some people say that global warming does not exist, but our polar regions tell no lies; our earth is getting warmer.”

Good plan, Wave. Maybe you could get a lift halfway to the Pole. Except according to Explorer’s Web you won’t get credited for a North Pole trek unless you leave from terra firma. These guys had better start praying for the Mother Of All Cold Snaps or thinking about small boat design. Ben Saunders is worried about the situation. But he’s definitely got something else on his mind for the moment: “I’m hoping against hope that there will be solid ice all the way to the coastline. We’ll see…For now, I’m going to enjoy my last night with my girlfriend for three months. In a bunk bed. Great.” No one ever said Arctic adventure would be without extreme sacrifice…



“Uhh, Ben? Baby? I know you’re eager to get going, but do you think you could take all your gear off before coming to bed…?”

(Saunders and Ice Pack Images via Explorer’s Web)

JV Jumble–Geronimo in the South: Well, one of the two French multihulls finally made it across the Equator without having to turn back for repairs or more fois gras. Geronimo crossed The Line yesterday, 7 days, 22 hours and 13 minutes after she set out. That was a touch slower than Orange 2002’s time (13 minutes, to be exact), but 8 hours faster than Cheyenne. Olivier De K and his crew can take some comfort from that fact….which they need because they are still going slow. Only 254.5 miles yesterday, their slowest run to date, and the band of light air straddling the Equator looks as if it will keep them in its clutches late into today. After that they’ll catch the southeast trade winds and starting looking ahead to the next tactical challenge: how to get around the South Atlantic High and into the Southern Ocean.

Down Under Australia, Cheyenne slowed a bit too, but not much, logging 507 miles yesterday as the cold front she has been racing finally caught her and dumped some squalls on Fossett and his crew. The wind has shifted to the west, putting Cape Horn dead downwind for the moment, which will force the big cat to start gybing and slow her headlong sprint toward the Pacific. Even so, Cheyenne has now streteched her lead over Orange 2002 to 1688 miles (chart here). Just another day at the office….



Geronimo Grinding: “Holy Merde, Olivier, this thing is so narrow all I get is a snootful of unwashed Gallic armpit….Medic!”

Can Everest’s North Face Be Climbed?–Da!: TWC regulars know that TWC loves Russian climbers, because they are always pulling the craziest sh#t, and having the most fun while they are doing it. March is Everest expedition time, as all the teams that hope to go to the top of the world in the coming months start assembling in Nepal and hiking in. And among the teams this year is a group of 14 Russkies who are not content to simply follow all the fixed ropes and ladders to the top via the traditional highway to the sky route on the Nepal side. Instead, this collection of dream teamers–Russia”s best climbers, and some of the best climbers in the world, in fact–are planning to go up the hard way. Which is to say, they plan to get to the top by pioneering a new route straight up the middle of Everest’s North Face. This is a monster climb, one of the hardest in the world, and to even attempt it is mountain climbing hubris on a magnitude that deserves prostration and cries of “We are not worthy” from all the wannabees and vanity climbers who are hoping to bag Everest at the end of a rope on a guided expedition. The Russians are already on their way out of Katmandu, after partying up a storm in classic Russian climbing fashion, and are headed to Ama Dablam for a nice, little warm-up climb. When questions were raised about whether the team would be using performance enhancing drugs, the Russians just laughed and noted their performance enhancer of choice happens to be vodka. “Let other people be tormented by how much the Russian can drink on the Northern Face of Everest,” a spokesperson scoffed. They’ve packed their guitars, too. This expedition is going to be a great one. Stay tuned…



Everest’s 8848 Meter North Face: “Leaping Lenin, Viktor, we’re going up THAT? At least it won’t be hard to keep the vodka cold….”

JV Jumble–Fossett Scores Again: The man is just a record breaking machine, and yesterday he an his 125-foot catamaran nabbed another one, making the fastest run in the history of the world from the English Channel to the longitude of Cape Leeuwin in western Australia. Cheyenne and her crew got there in 25 days, 14 hours and 8 minutes, and sailed almost 12,000 miles at an average speed of 18.95 knots doing it. Cheyenne’s time was 14 hours faster than De Kersauson’s blistering 2003 record for this segment, and a full 3 days, 17 hours faster than Orange 2002’s time. She’s now 1474 miles ahead of Orange’s 2002 record pace (chart here), and ripped off a 577 miles day yesterday. Here’s what crewman Fraser Brown had to say about the exhilarating ride:

“Blasting – We have finally got the good full-on Southern Ocean conditions that you come here for. We have had the last 2 full days of incredibly blasting conditions riding on strong North Westerlies with squalls coming through increasing the wind from 35 to 40 knots. We have been sailing at a 100 to 110 wind angle with 2 reefs and storm jib and even reefed the storm jib at one stage. We have been sitting on the good numbers all day and night topping out at around 36 knots, this boat was built for these conditions – we haven’t yet stuffed the bow in which is enabling us to drive as hard as we can.

Great conditions through the night – wet and fast driving with clear goggles on just seeing the white caps around you and the B and G displays. We have just broken the Ushant to Cape Leeuwin record beating Geronimo’s time. Nice to break something other than the boat. We are currently about 1300 miles ahead of the record but not quite halfway so heaps can happen yet. We are in Aussie waters and heading straight east at 51 South soon to be under kiwi land, then next up the Horn.

Bring it on. Sheet on and send it.”

Hmm, think there guys are having fun? Conditions will change, though. Strong winds are forecast to continue for a couple more days, but there is a big, fat high pressure system sitting over New Zealand which will mess with the fast-moving depression they just surfed across the Indian Ocean. So the routing could get complicated. And there’s always the endless challenge of keeping the boat in one piece. Cheyenne may be handling the Southern Ocean extremely well, and keeping her bows above water. But she’s not even halfway round yet and is taking some hard hits on the back beam as waves shoot up through the trampoline. At 30-35 knots, that’s a sick, sick impact…



The Look of 30 Knots…

(Photo: Nick Leggatt)

JV Jumble II–Geronimo Slowing: Olivier De Kersauson and his 110-foot tri are slowing as they approach the light winds of the Doldrums, logging only (seems like a joke to say “only”) 329 miles on her 7th day at sea. She’s still got about 180 miles to the Equator, so her Channel-Equator segment time is not looking good. Geronimo is still behind Orange 2002 and may well end up behid Cheyenne’s dismal Equator time. This has to be frustrating, but The Admiral is the most experienced Jules Verne sailor on the planet (having made something like seven attempts, completing 3), and he knows what the weather gods usually give a little and take a little. Right now they are not being very generous, but there’s a lot of ocean left to sail. Stay tuned…



Classic Doldrums: “I say, Olivier old chap. There’s no point in looking for wind. We’re like a pig in molasses here. Shall I get out and do a spot of rowing…?”

And….Slow Guy Check-In: With all the fast sailing going on, let’s not forget our old friend “Wrong Way” Jean Luc Van Den Heede. He’s sailing hard for home in the Atlantic, and should arrive early next week sometime. That would put him up to 28 days–28 DAYS–ahead of the current record for sailing, solo, non-stop around the world against the prevailing winds. VDH has now been alone at sea for 118 days, and he’s awestruck at the big chunk he’s going to take out of the record, but nervous it somehow won’t happen:

“4 whole weeks, I couldn’t have dreamt of anything better… but I haven’t done it yet. I still remain very, very cautious. Last night, my SIMRAD radar, which is always left on, as I don’t have any electrical supply problems, warned me there was a cargo ship passing 2 miles away from us. So I need to keep an eye open!”

Getting run down by a ship in the final days would be the definition of a sea-going tragedy, so VDH will have to stay hyper-alert. Which isn’t the easiest thing to when the most exciting thing VDH has done in the past week is catch a fish….



118 Days Alone: “I can’t decide whether to eat it or offer it coffee….”

TWC Breaking News–Orange II Is Out: No real surprise, but it’s always a shame to watch a boat and crew fail. If you had a spanking new untested boat and just two months to get it ready for a round the world record run, Bruno Peyron is probably the one guy you’d want in charge. But the odds were always stacked against him. The maxi-cats, particularly one as big as 120 feet, need development time. Which is to say, they need to be taken out, beat to sh*t, and rebuilt where they break, over and over again until they stop breaking. Orange II will be back in the water soon, and will probably break some more before she is sound. TWC bets Peyron will next target a series of Atlantic records, Round Britain and Ireland, Cross Channel, Trans Med, all leading to the east-west transatlantic, and then an assault on PlayStation’s monster west-east transatlantic mark of 4 days 17 hours. Bonne Chance, Bruno…



How It’s Meant To Be…