ERICSSON 3 EMAIL: 'Burning heat'

Wednesday 22 October 2008 04:17

Martin Krite (Bowman)

On board Ericsson 3 the time stands still. The temperature is around 40 degrees and the boat is moving very slow through the water. The sweat is dripping down my back and no matter how much I drink, I still feel thirsty.

Life onboard is a lot about keeping focus. We have to concentrate on doing all the small things that can make the boat go just a little faster. It is painful to see this monstrous sailing machine lying parked in the water, when you know what it is capable of.

I have been really frustrated from the last position report. The other boats seem to have more wind than us, but right now our worst opponent is not Puma or Telefonica, instead it is the burning heat and to keep the spirit up. The heat is stealing all our energy. You can't hide anywhere and my thoughts are more and more about stuff that has nothing to do with what we are here for, to win the worlds biggest yacht race. We have to stay focused, even if it is really hard.

We are now longing for more breeze and we know that it is not going to take long before we will do 20 knots of boat speed and surfing down waves. Probably we will have to wait another day, but it could just be a few hours. The only thing that matters though, is that we are the first boat to get the wind.

The race is still very open, every boat can win, and we will fight to be the first one out of this frustrating place called the Doldrums.

Received 04:17 GMT