"I packed in a long New Year's Eve as I started it at Melbourne time and continued until midnight GMT. A nice start to 2021 with lovely sailing conditions, even if we, the boat and I, are now being subjected to mad wind, which is to say 14 to 28 knots without warning. I went north of Macquarie Island and its rocks and shallows as I'm not sure what thousands of miles of unfettered swell and waves would look like when going abruptly from 4000 metres of depth to just 50 to 100 metres, and in one place, only 5 metres. It added a few miles and I don't know if it was the right thing to do, but now we are heading southeast again.
There must be a lot of birds on the island as there are certainly a lot here some 30 miles from land."
Miranda Merron / Campagne de France
News01 January 2021
Numbers Tell All
This first day of 2021, the numbers tell the story. At just over 600 miles to Cap Horn this morning the two leaders Yannick Bestaven (Maître Coq IV) and Charlie Dalin (Apivia) have just completed 24 hour runs of 452 and 417 nautical miles respectively. Only third placed Thomas Ruyant (LinkedOut) has come close with 375 miles. All of the chasing group have made less than 300 after their tussle with lighter winds yesterday. That means Bestaven and Dalin have the biggest lead over third since the start.
After more than one month in the Southern Ocean, now at under 800 miles to Cape Horn for Charlie Dalin (Apivia) who is 133 miles behind leader Yannick Bestaven (Maître Coq), it is increasingly likely that the leading pair will round Cape Horn, the mythical rock within hours of each other between Saturday night and Sunday.
"It seems that the wind from this front is starting to drop and is slowly moving towards the position I have been heading towards for two days. These past couple of days have been quite calm and I've been moving fast and doing the minimum of things. The next plans are to do some sail repairs, have good meals, get some rest and monitor the weather.
I hope that the conditions will calm down now so that I can have a more serene end of the year and also be able to check the boat over again. If all goes well, I could reach Cape Horn in 10 to 12 days. You can see how the weather is settling, but it's already exciting to be able to make forecasts, albeit provisional and approximate.
