Dream sailing run

Press, 18 March 1982, Page 40

Dream sailing run

PA Auckland Ceramco New Zealand has closed up 150 miles on the Whitbread fleet leader Flyer in a dream run through the Doldrums. The yacht’s skipper, Peter Blake, said by radio telephone early yesterday: “We’re now only 75 to 80 miles behind Flyer and 250 miles to the west, which we think, and hope, is the place to be. “We got through the Doldrums so . quick we could hardly believe it. Our slowest 24-hour run was 150 miles. “Now we’re out the other side, 560 miles to the north of the equator and cracked off

doing 9.5 to 10 knots with a latest 24-hour run of 230 miles. As you can imagine, we’re pretty happy." But the news wasn’t as good from Outward Bound. Its skipper, Digby Taylor, wouldn’t give his position, but the indications were that Outward Bound was still some 100 miles to the south of the Equator in frustratingly fickle conditions. “We’re not doing well at all,” he said. “We’ve been doing less than 130 miles for the last few days and have had one run as low as 70 miles. “We’re in Doldrums conditions. but the trouble is I

don’t think we are yet in the Doldrums belt." Blake’s latest satellite weather map tended to confirm this: “We entered the Doldrums to the south of the equator," he said. "Since then they have moved about 300 miles north and that’s going to give the smaller boats a few headaches." Ceramco had covered 3400 miles since leaving Mar del Plata on February 28. It was 2991 miles from the finish in Portsmouth. Outward Bound was approximately 620 miles astern of Ceramco. “It’s amazing just how far the big boats now are ahead,” Taylor commented.