|
Spirit of Cardiff arrived in Horta in the Azores yesterday, 158 hours 30 minutes after setting out from the Ambrose Light outside New York. Unfortunately this was not in time to beat the New York to Horta record set by the Cable and Wireless Adventurer in 1998.
Spirit's route across the Atlantic was 170 miles longer than the Adventurer's, as her shorter range dictated the extra refuelling stop in St John's, Newfoundland. This would not have presented a problem were it not for the extremely rough sea conditions encountered on both legs of the journey, particularly the mid-ocean leg from St John's to Horta.
Breaking surf off St John's -- hardly ideal conditions!
The crew were battered by two converging storm systems in the mid-Atlantic for 22 hours, and just when they thought it was safe to carry on, another storm formed 150 miles in front of them! This resulted in another painful night, with winds gusting in excess of 40 knots.
In these conditions, with waves often ten metres high, progress is very slow and tiring. During the day it is manageable as Spirit can be driven into each wave as it comes. However in the dark of night it's much more hazardous as the waves seem to come out of nowhere, catching all on board by surprise. More than once during the night time sections of the voyage Spirit was caught sideways by large waves, throwing the crew across the boat and filling it with spray -- this obviously makes sleeping impossible, so increased fatigue adds to the crew's problems.
Alan Priddy says: "Of course we're disappointed that we didn't break the Cable and Wireless record, but considering our longer route and fuel stop in Newfoundland, we've done extremely well -- especially as we've had to cope with some appalling sea conditions. We had the weather forecast from hell when we set off from New York, but we knew we had to be back in Cardiff on the 2nd June. We've taken a real beating, and I'm proud of the way the crew have all pulled together. But this is only part of the whole voyage from New York to Cardiff, and proving that the boat and crew has what it takes to go around the world next year"
After a 24 hour stopover in Horta, where the crew tried to dry out the boat and get some sleep, Spirit of Cardiff will set off for Cardiff today with the aim of arriving back at Cardiff Bay Barrage for its grand opening at 4pm on Saturday June 2nd. On the way, she will call at Lizard Point on England's south-west peninsula to set an official time for the transatlantic crossing.
|
