Open catamaran 100 miles from end of the Drake Crossing

by Drake media on 8 Feb 2003 Roberto Pandiani (45 years old), Brazilian and Duncan Ross (39 years old), South African, are 100 miles away from being the first sailors in the world to cross the Drake Passage on an open boat without cabin.

Satellite, the 21’ open catamaran, left Isla Herschel - Caleta Martial - to attack the Drake on February 4th. The right window – at least 60 hours of good weather – arrived and the sailors took off to cross the famous and fearsome Drake Passage - the infamous 500 miles of open ocean that separates Cape Horn and the Antarctic Peninsula known as the roughest ocean in the world.

Beto and Duncan have been sailing day and night in various conditions. Days with awesome blue skies, very dark nights, winds from 4 to 20 knots, outside temperatures from 12°C to 4°C and water temperatures dropping to 0 or 2°C.

They crossed yesterday afternoon the Antarctic Convergence, an area where the colder, Southern Ocean that surrounds the Antarctic continent meets the warmer waters of the Pacific, Indian, and Atlantic Oceans. The location of the Convergence changes from year to year. The fauna of either sides of the Convergence is quite different.

Early today they were 100 miles away from finishing to cross the Drake Passage and 140 miles away from Deception Island, their first stop. If the wind speed stays between 15-20 knots, Beto and Duncan will finish the Drake Crossing tonight and get to Deception Island tomorrow morning.

The project’s web page receives the catamaran’s position every 15 minutes through the Inmarsat C satellite system. The signal is then plotted to a map that gives their latitude, longitude, direction and speed so that the trip can be followed by the Internet

(www.travessiadodrake.com.br).



Master Sponsor: Semp Toshiba Partners: Visa - Agua Crystal - Revista Nautica

Supporters: Barracuda / BL3 / Caloi / Gath / Hobie Cat / Julbo / Nera / Outdoor Research / Quantum Sails / Radio Eldorado / Regatta / The North face / Tom&Cat /Wollner