Uphill going but Saga Insurance now abreast of French Guinea

Yacht Saga Insurance
Tuesday 20th March 2007
Lat 06 00N Long 048 28W
Miles To Norfolk, USA: 2,416 nm
Distance In 24 Hours: 254.6 nm
Average Speed In 24 Hours: 10.61 knots

‘We passed 250 miles off the mouth of the Amazon River yesterday morning, so
well clear of any Anaconda attack! We are now abreast of French Guinea. The wind remained largely northerly, so I could not head SAGA towards Norfolk, however if I keep on like this I will make an interesting excursion into the Caribbean Sea, which, I suspect, is a first for this race. Neither could I steer straight for Unai (Basurko), so our distance has increased on that score. We were 1,557 miles from him at 19:58 last night with 2,517 miles to go.’

‘We are over on our ear most of the time at the moment, so moving around is a question of handhold to handhold and any form of work is extremely difficult and slow. I got lurched to-day when we hit a wave and I landed on my left wrist. It is still not right, it is interesting to see the difference between my left and right forearms because of this problem, my right arm and forearm are noticeably bigger now because I have favoured them whenever there has been heavy work. If I box again I’ll have to be as a Southpaw!(Left-handed boxer that leads with the right hand.)

‘I found an email lurking in the files from Unai to-day wishing me a happy birthday, sent 2 days ago. A very kind gesture I thought, but typical of him. RKJ’