A Relentless Leg

Leg 5 Day 7 update from Ken Read onboard Mar Mostro:

This is the leg that just keeps on giving. First a storm right out of the gates. Now, relentless wind pressure is bringing cold but still not frigid winds from the South. The waves are both impressive and intimidating in this part of this world. The massive swells are…who knows…30, 40, 50 feet tall. Ask anyone on any of the boats and I am sure you would find a different but still very large number.

It’s the waves within the waves that get you. They seem to go every which way. That is why we haven’t called Laird Hamilton in yet for a wave drop. Sure the swells are massive, but the little guys (12 footers?) will spoil his winged surfboard ride for sure. Oh, and the fact that we are about as far away from land as you can get. Also, it is blowing between 30-50 knots the last few days. Sound like fun?

Continue reading on PUMA.com/sailing.

“We’re just giving the guys a very general course to sail, but very generally leaving it up to them to work out the details. You might want to steer at 95 degrees, but then people are being washed off the wheel every half an hour so you have to steer another course.”

PUMA navigator Tom Addis on Southern Ocean strategy.

Staying Dry

Leg 5 Day 6 blog from Amory onboard Mar Mostro:

The living down here is almost starting to feel normal. Ever since leaving Auckland our days have been drastically different from one to the next, as we departed the land-driven weather of the north and began our descent into the very separate world of the Southern Ocean. But now that we’re here, now that there’s very little up and down, only east, the weather has “stabilized,” as have we.

Perhaps the biggest adjustment is in the way we handle clothing and staying dry; it’s absolutely essential to healthy existence. I was warned: “You get wet, you die,” because the air is too damp to dry anything, and the temperatures are too cold to risk sailing wet. So self-sustainability starts with making sure you, and your materials, stay dry as best you can.

Continue reading on PUMA.com/sailing.