WEATHER THREAT

Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31322, 18 March 1967, Page 13

WEATHER THREAT

(N.Z.P.A.-Reuter—Copyright) BUENOS AIRES, Mar. 17. Sir Francis Chichester yesterday raced against time to round Cape Horn as fine weather threatened to turn to storms with mountainous seas. With only about 500 miles to go, Sir Francis Chichester was already nearing the narrow Drake Passage. It separates the rocky coast of South America from the shifting icebergs of the Antarctic. At this point, Sir Francis Chichester will have to decide whether to keep south and risk fog and drift-ice, or risk being caught in a storm close to rocks.

His plans originally were to keep about 60 miles from the shore, but this is a small margin if clouded skies and a rolling sea prevent him from using his sextant to fix his position accurately for several days.

The latest weather report from Chilean meterological stations indicate slight mist, rising winds and temperatures dropping to several degrees below zero.

Radio monitoring stations in Santiago, Chile, have not been able to pick up any message from Sir Francis Chichester as he approaches the treacherous cape. The local weather bureau today reported cloudy skies in the southern Chilean zone, between Punta Arenas and Cape Horn, with light winds. North of Punta Arenas, there was torrential rain. One of Britain’s oldest warships H.M.S. Protector leaves the Chilean port of Punta Arenas tomorrow to shepherd Sir Francis Chichester for five days or so it should take him to clear the area of the horn. A Chilean Air Force aircraft is standing by at Punta Arenas

ready to offer help while an Argentine naval vessel sails soon from the Patagonian port of Ushuaia to offer provisions and assistance if necessary. . But in spite of all the modern direction-finding devices, seamen have said it was going to be difficult to pin-point the exact position of the 12-ton twin-masted ketch. It would not be easy to spot a white boat with white sails against a foaming sea with waves that can tower the height of an eight-storey building. The chances of being rescued if anything drastic happened to him or his boat were not very high, according to naval experts. A helicopter aboard Protector vould not be able to take off in a storm with gusts reaching nearly 100 m.p.h. as reported in southern Patagonia last week.