South of the South Island

Hi All
 
Very sorry to hear about Derek Hatfield breaking his top spreaders in a big knock down, he has put in such a massive effort to get to the start line, then having to return, repair and restart again meant that he has then been having to battle storm after storm in the Southern Oceans, when the earlier boats got through the same waters with much better conditions. I hope he has a safe trip to Hobart and I am sure Spirit of Canada and the indominatable Derek will be back.
 
24840 is the number. After moving the final ice gate the race committee have settled on this final race distance, about 1000 miles longer than the last race, or about 3 days further in sailing time.
 
So doing some quick maths 24840/2=12420 which is half the course, and I have a mere 12203 to go to the finish, so I am now officially over half way!
 
Over the last couple of days had good sailing conditions, all on port tack, with flat seas and clear skies gradually evolving into the usual 35 knot winds, fog, rain and waves, but still conditions are manageable and it looks like lighter conditions to come in the medium term, as I leave New Zealand behind. This gale seems the last one in the forecast future, and after that I am dealing with high pressure winds to get to the ice gates, which lie quite far north of the traditional route. I am having a good battle with Aviva and Akenas, and now with his pit stop Safran is not so far ahead.
 
Last evening I passed by 25 miles south of the Auckland Islands, home to tens of thousands of albatross and other seabirds, but with the thick fog I did not see the islands, and the seabirds did not see me, so out here I have unusually little company today. The night before was clear and I was able to see he glow of the Antarctic continent to the south, keeping a faint light on the horizon for the whole night, like the first tinge of dawn.
 
Now, apart from some sub Antarctic islands, I have the entire Pacific Ocean in front of me, with Cape Horn as the destination, tucked away in the bottom right hand corner, 5000 miles away via the ice gates.
 
Let's hope this second half of the race is faster than the first.
 
Regards from south of the the South Island, New Zealand
 
Brian