Bulletin: 29th December 2007

The New Zealand pit-stop for TEMENOS II takes shape

This latest gale has been beneficial in enabling TEMENOS II to close on Wellington at high speed. For the first time the New Zealand pit-stop is really taking shape for Michèle and Dominique. As forecast in the weather models, little by little the wind is dropping off on zone, but the seas, which have been manhandling the duo since the arrival of the front, remain big as Michèle confirms in her daily message.

"The past 24 hours in the company of the front have been hard, sailing on a reach overly close to the wind in very big, confused seas. In these conditions the boat goes fast but it’s laborious. Our bodies are really being put to the test. This pace is tiring and even sleeping in the bunk has become tough. You wake up almost fatigued by this chunk of 'bouncing, grating sleep".
Everything becomes difficult, including the insignificant day to day things. For example filling a coffee mug is unthinkable, hot meals have been transformed into energy bars and we’re avoiding undressing to go to sleep in case we’re thrown violently across the boat. The energy you’d expend in doing this just wouldn’t be worth it in any case.

One consolation is that at least the average speed has increased and with around 600 miles to go to Wellington, the pit-stop in New Zealand means something concrete to me for the first time.

TEMENOS II has passed through this gale superbly well. We have remained prudent, taking care of our ‘rusty’ appendage over the past days. It's not easy to find a happy medium, not too much, not too little, but after all these miles together the boat lets us know when it's at ease.

We had more than 20 knots this morning and we still have a few light, furtive gusts, but there are short, big seas, which will doubtless take more time to calm down than the wind. The boat is still being really tossed about and us with it! We should make South Island on the back of the easing front, before falling into light conditions, which will accompany us as far as the entry into the Cook Straits.

We’ve put the active-echo on again and for the time being it's staying mute, but our proximity to land announces the likely presence of shipping. We'll have to remember not just to look up at the trimming of the sails or the birds, but also ahead of us! It’s incredible to sail for days on end without seeing anything, surfing at crazy speeds, without worrying too much about looking ahead of the boat, except in the ice zones of course…

We're still being shaken about a lot here and I must have pressed all the keys on my keyboard at some point (not always voluntarily!) I thank the lovely soul who will have corrected all these typing errors and who, I hope will make my text comprehensible…

See you soon

Michèle"

Ranking 13:00
Rk	Boat	Dist to lead	Latitude	Longitude	Average speed
1	PAPREC-VIRBAC 2	0,0	51 46.41' S	166 24.97' W	15,4
2	HUGO BOSS	913,7	42 20.36' S	175 09.50' E	8,3
3	TEMENOS II	1553,5	44 20.65' S	163 19.57' E	15,6
4	MUTUA MADRILENA	2029,7	45 34.93' S	151 49.58' E	10,8
5	EDUCACION SIN FRONTERAS	3034,9	49 13.92' S	127 36.89' E	19,8