Cheyenne broken –crew battered – but still going

by Courtesy ISAF on 12 Mar 2004 2000 miles ahead of record pace. At 0510 GMT Cheyenne was 2370 miles west-nor-west of Cape Horn.

Cheyenne was back on the direct track yesterday for Day 33 of her Round The World sailing record attempt, heading south-east towards Cape Horn throughout the day and knocking off 485 well-earned nautical miles in treacherous conditions.

That evil offspring of Mother Nature and Father Earth (known as the Southern Ocean) still conspired to make it as difficult as possible.

Nevertheless, Steve FOSSETT and his crew stretched back their lead over the 2002 RTW record pace of Orange to over 2000 miles.

As mentioned in a prior report (and well-described by David SCULLY below), first the spinnaker halyard broke and the big sail had to be recovered. Then Guillermo was knocked down, winded and bruised by a wave over the freeboard. Ever tough, the Spaniard returned to his post shortly thereafter.

A quarter of an hour later, Nick LEGGATT was savaged by a similar wave and thrown face-first into the compass, a nasty cut ensuing. Prompt attention by Watch Captain David SCULLY, attended by assistant medico Justin SLATTERY cleaned, taped and dressed the wound - and Nick (stood down from his watch to recover for a couple days), will no doubt be as handsome as ever...

Skipper Steve FOSSETT describes the butcher's bill:

‘Despite 10 feet of freeboard, waves break over the side of Cheyenne. Last night Nick LEGGATT was hit by surprise and his face was stopped by the compass.

A nasty 2 inch gash on his left cheekbone and a smaller cut on the bridge of the nose was the result (see photo). Dave SCULLY, our medic in addition to Watch Captain, got on the satellite telephone to our medical doctors at World Clinic.

(ed. - World Clinic is a 24/7 medical service which is reachable worldwide by telephone or internet - see under the crew bio section a short bio on Dr Dan CARLIN and World Clinic www.worldclinic.com). The advice was to close the wounds with SteriStrip tapes, a course of antibiotics - and prompt attention in a medical facility (can't do everything!) Nick will be off the watch schedule for few days to allow proper initial healing but a serious scar is inevitable.

I'm happy to report that Guillermo ALTADILL is fine after his knockdown earlier in the evening. His bruised ribcage in his back seems to have been caused by his harness which protects the helmsman from being blown out of the boat. He's fully able to continue all sailing activities.

To reduce risk of more injuries, a temporary speed limit of 25 knots was implemented until the sea state reduced. We have escaped the severe conditions for the time being.
- Steve’

Steve Fossett Challenges Website: www.fossettchallenge.com

Related Articles: www.sailing.org/Article_content.asp?ArticleID=6597