| At sea. Volvo Ocean Race: ABN AMRO ONE's Mike Sanderson to marry, in May, with a crew of groomsmen |
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| Wednesday, 12 April 2006 | |
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Mike Sanderson – skipper: The mental game is starting to hot up out here at the moment, as even though it must look like pretty plain sailing from on shore, the weather is starting to really throw some curve balls for us for the last couple of thousand of miles into Baltimore. For now we are still sailing up the side of the Caribbean and so are in the north east trades, which are shifting around fairly systematically from day to do, both in strength and direction. But the forecast has us dealing with the bad side of a couple of lows as well as a high pressure ridge between the Caribbean and the entrance to the Chesapeake. I guess for the guys behind it is in fact an exciting forecast as it means there is a good chance that there will be plenty of re-start possibilities. For us in front of course it is our worst nightmare and will do a pretty good job in making sure that the last week is as stressful as possible. We can't complain though, we have had some awesome sailing and the bottom line is that our boat is going fast, and I think we will have had more impact on the minds of our competitors on this leg then on any of the previous legs, and that will always be there now even if we don't have a good last third of the leg. There is a big difference seeing someone do more miles than you in a position report than it is to actually see them sail past. On a position report you can blame a cloud or the breeze being different or pretty much anything you like, if they just go past you where you can see them it is a lot tougher. Life on board is getting more pleasant temperature wise, we are now at 12 degrees North and it has cooled down a little, to the stage at least that sleeping during the day is bearable, Camilla Green from our PR team told us that it has been snowing in Baltimore recently, which suddenly makes it seem like a whole lot further away. Wildlife wise we have brought a new species into the mix, a beautifully coloured jelly fish, some of them fairly large in size. Justin came out very convincingly and announced that it is a Portuguese Man o War. Rightly or wrongly he has convinced us to the point where nobody disputed it, probably the best way of doing it amongst this group who are pretty quick to jump on any possible sign of weakness or un-sureness. For sure we are getting closer as a crew as the race goes on, we have got a great bunch of guys, and sailing with them is a pleasure, to the point where I have asked them all to be my groomsmen at mine and Emma's wedding in May. I have no doubt that it will be a colourful day... Talk soon Cheers |
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| Last Updated ( Wednesday, 12 April 2006 ) |
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