Spirit of Canada nears Equator

by Brian Hancock on 13 May 2003 While the Around Alone skippers deal with unseasonably cold weather in Newport, Derek Hatfield on Spirit of Canada is finding life on board anything but cool. In fact it’s downright hot out there. This morning Hatfield was approaching the equator and looks set to cross the magic line sometime today.

'The downwind conditions continue albeit it getting lighter as I approach the equator,' he wrote. 'It will be great to be back in the Northern hemisphere once more.' With the sun directly overhead Derek is finding it hard to keep out of the sun. It’s bad enough on deck, but below the heat is oppressive.

'The thermometer inside the boat reads 99 degrees Fahrenheit so you can imagine that not a lot of time is spent inside.'

It took Bernard Stamm and the leading Class 1 boats five days to get from Salvador to the equator, and Brad Van Liew on Tommy Hilfiger Freedom America six. If Spirit of Canada crosses today Derek will be on the same pace as the rest of the fleet despite sailing three weeks later in the season.

This bodes well for a fast passage to Newport. Hatfield has been concentrating on getting as much speed out of his boat as possible, but it’s not been easy since the need for shade seems to be consuming his day. 'The heat is unbearable on deck and as the sun is directly overhead, there is not much shade from the sails.

I have been hiding under a blow-up mattress for shade during the day. The sea conditions are flat and the water temperature gauge on the depth meter shows that the water temperature outside the hull is 33.1 Centigrade, more like bath water than the Atlantic Ocean.'

In Newport things are gearing up for the prize-giving on Saturday evening. It promises to be a glitzy affair with all the skippers (except Derek) in attendance. There will also be numerous veterans of the race in attendance.

Yours truly will emcee the event with help from Herb McCormick and a number of other presenters. McCormick has covered the Around Alone since the early days co-writing an excellent book on the first race entitled Out There. Until I took over as storyteller for the event, Herb did an outstanding job bringing the event onto center stage. It’s been a challenge to maintain the very high standards Herb set. When I read reports on past races I was amazed that McCormick was able to write a piece a day without flagging. Now having done over 400 articles since the race started I have even greater admiration for him.

Details of the awards ceremony are posted on the Newport page in the 'Race Route' section. It is a private function, but for those not able to attend the ceremonies, numerous images will be on line on Sunday morning.