INTO THE TRANSITION ZONE
23rd May 2003

Work on Tiscali's mast continues as Simone Bianchetti and his team ready the boat for the trip across the Atlantic to Italy. The mast broke cleanly 60 feet off the deck and GMT Composites in Rhode Island have spliced the pieces back together. All that remains now is for the team to re-rig the mast and prepare the boat for the passage. While it was most certainly bad luck for Simone to be dismasted only 30 miles from the finish of the Around Alone, it was good luck that the break was clean and most of the mast remained standing allowing the Italian skipper to sail across the line holding onto his second place for Leg 5.

While the Tiscali team work away in unseasonably cold conditions at Newport Shipyard, Derek Hatfield is pushing hard to get to the finish by next weekend. At the last poll he was 1350 miles away from completing his Around Alone odyssey. If Spirit of Canada averages 7 knots Hatfield will be looking at an early Saturday morning finish on May 31. Hatfield has entered the transition zone between the balmy trade winds and the more temperate and unpredictable weather that blows off the eastern seaboard of the North American continent. His log reflects the change in weather. "Overnight last night I had some great sailing and covered a lot of distance," he wrote. "At about 4 this morning it all changed with the arrival of a low pressure ridge and cold front. From that time till late this afternoon, I have been doing continuous sail changes and adjustments trying to keep the boat going."

From now on the conditions will be much more trying as squalls and frontal systems make the sailing a lot more tricky. Derek will have to be vigilant looking out for squalls that develop when cool winds blow across warm water. He is already finding the going tough. His log continues. "There are numerous squalls around with lots of rain and even some thunder and lightning. I didn't get much sleep so am very tired. Currently, the wind has died away again and I have just taken the reefs out of the mainsail, probably for the twentieth time. There is another threatening cloud heading our way so I must go back on deck, all for now."

While Derek and Spirit of Canada slog north, most American's are also on the move as they head away for the long Memorial Day weekend, traditionally one of the busiest travel weekends of the year. Let's hope that come next weekend they will be back home and those within driving distance of Newport will make the effort to come down to the docks to greet Hatfield home. Derek deserves a rousing welcome when he shows up on these shores.

Note: There are more prize giving images in the multimedia gallery

--- Brian Hancock great.circle@verizon.net

Source: Around Alone Official Site