Captain's Log #20: Future and Present

here is a race being planned over the 2004/2005 New Year around Antarctica, aptly named the Antarctica Cup. It is a non-stop 45 day sprint past the three most notorious southern Capes; Leeuwin, Horn, and Agulhus. Most of the race will be held in what’s known as the furious 50’s, where the southern ocean goes unimpeded by land around the circumference of the globe. Nowhere on earth are the winds higher, the waves larger, or the risks greater to boats and their crew. But the rewards, like all things challenging, are great.

When I heard about the Antarctica Cup and imagined icebergs the size of small countries, penguins and elephant seals, massive seas, 24-hour sun, a new plan began to form; the lure of the 7th continent was too great.

So, in December of 2004, Saoirse and her as-of-yet unknown crew will be leaving Stewart Island, New Zealand for a 5,000 mile run to Palmer Station, Antarctica and up to Punta Arenas, Chile on a great circle route (the sortest distance between two points at high latitudes) that will carry us below 60 degrees south, or the screaming 60’s. Other than a slim possibility of the Antarctica Cup racing yachts, we won’t likely be seeing any ocean going craft for two months.

Other than being a little mad, there is an ulterior motive behind this plan. In April of 2005 an annular solar eclipse will be visiting the south pacific ocean a couple of hundred miles off Pitcairn island, an area we traveled through in 2001 for 6 weeks. The only way to see its totality is to be in mid-ocean aboard a sailing yacht. Our plan is to arrive there via the south easterlies from northern Chile. So 2005 is stacking up to be an interesting year. We’ll sail 10,000 miles through some of the coldest and warmest climes in the world. See places and events few people ever get a chance to see.

Oracle at the Start Round Robin 2

While the future takes shape, life in the present is serving up an interesting dish. The Louis Vuitton finals begin this weekend between the Americans and the Swiss, with the winner advancing to attempt to wrest the America’s Cup from Team New Zealand. Each of the yachts remaining in this battle of the sailing titans are skippered by Kiwis, so we’ll be witness to some fantastic duels.

This year Saoirse and crew will ply the waters of Tonga, Fiji and Vanuatu before returning to the land of the long white cloud.

Offshore Odysseys. It’s everywhere you want to be.