Maiden, Leg 2- Ocean Globe Race 2023

 Leg 2- Ocean Globe Race 2023

Cape Town, South Africa to Auckland, New Zealand

5th November 2023- 13th December 2023

7610nm

38 days

Cape Town was a very busy stop-over, with a lot to do on the boat to prepare it for the Southern Ocean in a relatively short time. On top of this, the team suffered a heartbreaking tragedy right before leaving for the start of Leg 2. 

More then ever my team needed me to lead. I had to get through this for them so I could help them get through it too. Starting Leg 2, I only had the goal to get everyone to New Zealand safely, we had already lost enough. I knew there were likely to be some tough conditions ahead and I needed to draw on all of my knowledge, skill and instinct to keep everyone safe so I couldn’t be distracted. 

Thankfully former Maiden skipper, Erica Lush, stepped into Rachel’s shoes whilst she couldn’t be there and became our 1st mate for the leg. I had relied on Rachel so heavily on the first leg, with her being beside me for every key decision, every HF call and every time I doubted myself. Not only could she not be here for the leg but I couldn’t be there for her when she needed me the most. I felt like my security blanket had been pulled out from underneath me and on top of my own deep grief, I had to hold the team together and keep everyone safe. 

We had a fairly light start, with the wind slowly increasing as we headed out of the bay and into the Southern Ocean. As the wind increased we decided on a conservative approach, my team were exhausted already from the events of Cape Town and this is when mistakes are likely to happen. I had been obsessively looking at the currents around the south of South Africa before we left and had a good idea of where I wanted to cross the Agulhas Current to make best possible use of favourable current and keep out of any strong opposing currents and keeping a track of the sea temperatures to keep an eye on this. 

We had some quite squally conditions but nothing too crazy. We had our first big cold front hit about a week into the leg, bringing 30+ knts and some big seas. Maiden handled it like a pro and we all massively enjoyed surfing down the waves. I was seeing everyone's helming improving as they had more practice, letting us push the boat a little bit more. 

Heading below 45 degrees South, we were firmly in the Southern Ocean territory and the temperature plummeted… Unfortunately this is when we found out the heater didn’t work… When conditions are so wet and so cold, everything gets more difficult. Your energy is taken up keeping warm and getting all on your layers to go on deck becomes a 30 minute ordeal. 

The weather wasn’t living up to the expectations of the Southern Ocean. Typically the southern ocean gives you big intense low pressures one after another that give you big wind and waves. We were doing yet more high pressure dodging… Thankfully this leg we had the good fortune to be able to talk to Peter at Passage Guardian Radio, who was unwaveringly dedicated to making sure we got the forecasts we needed. On days when the signal was poor he was extremely patient with us, sometimes repeating himself many times before we correctly heard the message. We then relayed this to the other boats, also repeating ourselves until everyone had all the information they needed. Having this vital lifeline to the outside world gave us as the skippers and navigators a piece of mind that someone out there was keeping an eye on us and could tell us if there was anything dangerous headed our way. I myself don’t think I would have felt safe without it. In addition to this, at the start of the leg, until they were out of range, Marie , on PD VI, was getting some forecasts from the French Navy then translating and relaying it to us. The camaraderie of the fleet was growing and we were all looking out for each other. I can’t help but think that ‘Maiden Radio’ on the first leg had something to do with this. 

We had several waypoints that we had to keep to Starboard to make sure we didn’t get too far South into the dangerous ice zone. Unfortunately one of these waypoints seemed to perfectly align with a high pressure system. We kept as south as we could before diving up to get around the waypoint to spend the least amount of time as possible with light winds. Leading up to this waypoint we had quite a few days of full cloud coverage, meaning we were struggling to get a sight to be able to find out our location. We were relying on dead reckoning which has much more error. In Rachel’s absence, Lana our youngest crew-member at only 18, had stepped up to assistant navigator and the rest of the crew were helping me by taking sights where they could. In the conditions this was not an easy task and I was very grateful for all their help. We luckily managed to get a good couple of sun sights just before reaching the waypoint so I was confident that we were not going to miss it, but still gave it a wide berth just in case, so we never did manage to see the big yellow mark in the ocean!

Our worst conditions came when we were just entering the Tasman Sea, with 50knts and big following seas. We had the promise of warmer conditions ahead to keep us fighting the cold. In the central Tasman Sea, I made a mistake with the navigation and got a bit too close to a high pressure, giving us some lighter conditions that was very frustrating being so close to the finish. 

Having not seen land since leaving Cape Town, it was pretty nerve wracking coming up to Cape Reinga and such a great feeling when you finally see the lighthouse you were looking out for. For the next 30 hours we navigated the coastal waters of New Zealand- a stunning coastline. I got little to no sleep, my tactic was to get as close to the coast as possible in order to sail the shortest distance, however this meant that I needed to be very concentrated on the navigation to keep the boat safe. 

We sailed into Auckland harbour just as the sun was rising. The familiar sights of Whangaparaoa peninsula and Rangitoto island made me feel like I was home again! Steinlarger II and Lion New Zealand welcomed us in and crossed the finish line with us. Being a part of these three legendary yachts sailing together again was a memorable end to a memorable leg.