Race 2 Day 18: Escaping the grip of The Doldrums?

Things are starting to look up for some of the teams, with Jamaica Get All Right and PSP Logistics picking up wind having headed east and hopeful of escaping the grip of The Doldrums.

For the rest of the fleet, frustrations are still being felt as the ITCZ (Inter-Tropical Convergence Zone) continues to move south with the yachts.

Pete Stirling, Skipper of Jamaica Get All Right, describes the moment when he was walloped by a cold front and 35 knots of wind at early this morning.

“At first it felt like a squall, which are very short lived, but there wasn't a lot of rain and it didn't appear on the radar.

“The crew leapt into action and, with some help from the off watch, we quickly dropped the Yankee and put the second reef in the mainsail. A couple of hours later we had one reef in the mainsail, Yankee 2 and staysail and are on course for Rio at 10 knots plus.

“Is this the end of The Doldrums, are we the first of the fleet to escape its grip? It certainly feels like it but according to the forecast we still have a little way to go yet.”

Mission Performance has slipped down the fleet to sixth position.

Some haute cuisine being cooked up by the various Mother Watch crew is keeping morale high, with plenty of reports detailing tasty dishes.

And on Jamaica Get All Right, a weekly ‘Delia Award’ is spurring on crew to cook delicious dishes paying homage to legendary British chef and TV presenter Delia Smith.

Dinner last night was prepared by round the world crew members Richard Heggie (Heggs) and Mick Wood. Thai chicken green curry went down very well and is a serious contender for the decorated wooden spoon awarded each Sunday for the best meal of the week. 

 You can keep an eye on the fleets progress here at the Official Race Viewer and to read all the skipper reports click here