Zen and the Art of Southern Ocean Sailing
January 31, 2007 0 comments
Kojiro Shiraishi (JPN) passes the first ice gate and the finally gets a stable wind. An isolated Bernard Stamm (SUI) stretches his lead further as he passes the halfway mark between New Zealand and South America, closing in on Cape Horn. Graham Dal
Kojiro Shiraishi is a solo ocean racer like no other in the world. The last few days has seen SPIRIT OF YUKOH stuck in the light and frustrating conditions of a high pressure system as he seeks to pass through the first ice gate in the Southern Ocean. A tough situation as Koji is forced to watch the leader Bernard Stamm blast away form him and the back markers sneak up on him. Yet few skippers control their emotions as well as Shiraishi, who draws on a unique and diverse range of skills and tactics to get him through the difficult periods of anger and sleep deprivation. Despite all the problems, Shiraishi always remains positive and happy.
At sea the spiritual adventurer practices the art of Iaido (traditional Japanese swordsmanship), the ancient discipline of Bushido (the code of the Samurai) and Zen Buddhist meditation. These complimentary practices help control his emotions and thoughts, especially in such frustrating times. And it appears his prayers have been answered as the wind has finally arrived for the popular skipper. Although not ideal conditions, with upwind sailing in a large swell, it is a big improvement and finally gives Koji a chance to begin to claw back the miles on Stamm.
Meanwhile, at the front of the fleet CHEMINEES POUJOULAT is now closer to South America than New Zealand, just over 2,000 miles from Cape Horn. But Stamm is more and more isolated after Shiraishi has struggled through the high pressure system that Stamm rode so skillfully. The Swiss skipper and defending champion is giving a master class in Southern Ocean sailing and continues to set impressive distances each day whilst being focused on keeping the boat and himself safe in the most desolate expanse of ocean in the world.
Graham Dalton has now rejoined the race in A SOUTHERN MAN AGD after a necessary pit stop in his native New Zealand to replace his ruined food supplies and leaked diesel fuel. Re-joining the race has set up a drag race between the back markers. Now over 200 miles south east of New Zealand’s South Island, Sir Robin Knox-Johnston on SAGA INSURANCE and Dalton are separated by less than 100 miles and battling not to be in last position. However, both skippers are expecting to be lashed by 50 knot winds and huge seas.
Ahead at 50 degrees south, Unai Basurko (ESP) on PAKEA has been averaging 10 knots and pulling away in third place. Knox-Johnston continues to be plagued by problems; not only is he sailing blind without any weather information, yesterday the sailing legend lost one of his life rafts and today he reported a tear at the clew of his solent. This leaves Sir Robin with a more limited sail inventory and will cost him miles on the other yachts depending on the conditions.
Bernard Stamm, CHEMINEES POUJOULAT:
“I was not expecting to have such a big gap over Koji in fact. And especially as the weather information I had and the simulation I did were showing that Kojiro could manage the high pressure system by the south. I am not sure why he stayed north and is now stuck in this bubble. To be honest I have been trying to sail in a conservative way. But in the Southern Ocean there are some places where you can’t do it. Sometimes you have to push hard in order not to miss a weather system change.”
“The conditions are a tiny bet better, but this side of the high pressure system is not nice. I had to go through a lot of squalls and strong thunderstorms. With the wind changing from 8 to 35 knots it is not easy to choose the right sail configuration. It was really tricky but it has been more stable in the last four hours. I haven’t seen any ice. When I was avoiding the high pressure system going further south, the weather was really nice and visibility really good. And the boat was not doing 25 knots so I was not stressed. Now the last gate will take us south, ready for Cape Horn, and I think it would be really harder.”
“I would like to see the Cape Horn in “normal” conditions as I have been there twice with really rough conditions. At the moment, the forecast is that it would be windy. I should reach it by the beginning of next week.”
Kojiro Shiraishi, SPIRIT OF YUKOH:
“Monday night we had virtually no wind. I could get no sleep and had to hand steer all night. I am sure that many people think having no wind is a great opportunity to sleep and rest but that would be wrong. I am almost scared to open the leader board file every time they come in from the race office. We became separated from Bernard by over 1000 miles. We are 1000 miles from the boat in front and 1000 miles the boat behind. And Bernard will continue for a while to get further ahead. It feels just like being stuck in traffic when you are stopped in one lane but the cars in the lane besides you are moving fast right past you.”
“Controlling my feelings is my job at the moment. I decided to grab a bucket and sponge to clean out all the bilges. A bit of good hard work allowed me to return my normal feeling. Afterwards I went on deck and practiced Zen. Things cheered up a bit on board after that.”
“Today the wind has finally arrived! We have had 3 hours of continuous wind and so I think it is this new wind is the real thing. It is still upwind and we have a big swell coming from south west, but it is all lot better than being stopped. It’s a long time since I have been moving and I am feeling a tingle of anticipation. I have had enough of these one-hundred-mile-a-day days and now I want make some speed to our goal.”
“Captain James Cook, a sailor I admire very much, maintained great records his journeys. These records journey sparked and maintained dreams in people, like me, who read them. Keeping records is not so easy, especially for a single hand sailor. It is very demanding on time and effort. But as fortunate skippers who are so lucky to be here doing this race, we should aim to leave something of what we came here to do. These are not only own personal dreams but we carry also the dreams of others who follow us. It’s not about getting upset as we see the leader sail away further.”
Sir Robin Knox-Johnston, SAGA INSURANCE:
“The solent has a tear along its foot close to the clew just outside the reinforcement patch. I don’t want to risk using it again until I can fix it as it is a vital part of our sail armoury and to use it without a decent repair is asking for the whole seam to go. I am now left between the jib and the storm staysail, a very large gap. To use the jib in these conditions is asking to damage it as well and the trouble with the jib and solent is that they are both on furlers and so their heads are lashed to the mast. As I no longer have the reachers I just cannot afford to lose the jib. If those headsails go I cannot get them down without climbing the mast and that, down here in the present circumstances, is not an option. Mast climbing is something we occasionally have to do but you chose your moment.”
“So having closed SAGA INSURANCE nicely with the two boats in front, we are now losing out to them, but I would rather lose a bit now than lose a lot later, so we’ll have to take the present slowness on the chin and hope to close the gap again once repairs can be effected. Currently, without the solent, I am losing about 2-3 knots. It won’t notice when this front gets closer, but we are in a lull right now but there is too much rain about to try for a repair at present.”
