Elisa's Journey - Racing Into the Roaring Forties

The Cape Breton Clipper is officially into the Roaring Forties – the notorious part of the Southern Ocean known for massive swells and strong winds. We’ve been holding our own in first place of the fleet, with only miles between us and the second/third place boats.

It’s a drag race to Geraldton, Western Australia. Our top competitors are the home team, Spirit of Australia, and defending champs, Team Finland. Every mile counts since all three of us have a strong motivation to win.

So far we’ve beaten into 40 knots of wind, ran before it in 48 knots, and seen up to 5m swells. In other words, the Roaring Forties have been good to us – this is nothing compared to what it is known to dish out. The first low pressure system is currently moving past, and is giving us great speeds on the rest of the fleet. Right now, we are in a small lull – only 20 knots of wind– towards the middle of the system.

Given we are heading to sunny Australia and the Southern Hemisphere summer, it has been freezing cold on deck. The wind seems to come straight from Antarctica and our boat is the first thing it reaches.

I finally broke down and dug out my helming mittens last night. At first I thought it was overkill, until I did a 45 minute stint on the helm in bare hands. When I came down below to thaw out, I held my hands above the stove. Although I could see the blue flame of the burner, my hands were too numb to feel the heat!

Getting ready to go on watch takes longer and longer. Sometimes I forget what I am wearing under all the layers. I’ve added a midlayer to my usual thermals and ocean foul weather gear. On my head is a fleece “buff”, or head wrap that covers everything but the face.

The feet are another story. I was sorry to discover the “cheaper” brand of racing boots, which were $160 CAN, are leaking. I’d been wearing wet, cold socks for 3 days until I discovered bags in the galley that perfectly fit over my feet! Worth about $0.10 CAN each; they seem to be doing a better job keeping my socks dry when layered in the boots.

Good thing, because tonight is going to be the coldest night yet. The wind has come around and we are going upwind again. This means we will feel the cold more than sailing downwind – the apparent wind is greater. Knowing we have worked hard to get in first place and stay there, defending the title is more important than being warm and comfortable. If that was the case, we could have stayed home in front of the fireplace – I know I’d rather be out here on the Southern Ocean!