Komatsu St Malo pressures race leaders

by Shane Kearns on 27 Dec 2002 Komatsu St Malo has now reeled in it's drogues that we have been streaming for most of the past 24 hours. That boat with the Italian car name and the one named after an artillery piece are now 116 miles ahead and we think that is enough start!

Our crew, (all paid professional sailors earning 2 shillings per day), have now pulled the sails up and we are bearing down on the leaders at a rapid rate.

All the big boys have 'kinks' in their necks from continually scanning the horizon behind them because they know we are coming!! Our plan at the moment is to 'round them up' in the Derwent about lunchtime tomorrow if the wind stays in and we can average about 22 knots. Anyway, lasagne smells like its nearly done and I need to put garlic bread in so have to go! Crew are doing strange things on deck and yelling loudly, banging things and raving on about cutting off the excess sail area or something about trimming anyway?

If the plan doesn't work out, there will be many more exciting reports from us as we will be out here the longest!!

Shane Kearns
rear of the fleet safety co-ordinator

Click on the link below to listen to the interview with Shane Kearns
http://www.sail-world.com/multimedia/Shane_Kearns.mp3