Tears and tribulation
This is the transcript of the radio recording received this morning from Paul Larson aboard Team Legato 3,000 miles from Cape Horn:
“To call our current predicament frustrating would be quite an understatement. What I see laid out all around me is no one picture of the Southern Ocean. It is dead flat with no wind, bordering on what I call glasshouse conditions. We are told by three independent sources that there are strong winds all around us, yet we have sat here for a day and a half making little progress or direction. It is no one’s fault – just one of the many vagaries of this wonderful world of yachting. Sit on the Silverstone start line in a Ferrari with the track all to yourself and no fuel. Sit in an airport all packed to party and stay grounded day after day. Buy the kids the hottest remote control car on Christmas Day, but have no batteries. Get the picture?”
“Don’t for a minute think that we are not trying. Everything at our disposal – sail combinations, directions, advice – all avenues have been tried. But if the winds don’t blow, then we don’t go. Each watch gives up the helm with a sigh. The next give it their best. Every second we know that the competition we tried so hard to catch before Wellington, is pulling away. Mental discomfort can be far worse than physical discomfort. But this is the nature of our endeavour. The Race was never going to be easy. You had to be prepared in so many facets to tackle it successfully. The way that Team Legato got to the start line was a long way from being the perfect method to set out to win such an event. But make it to the start line she did. Some of the biggest names in British offshore yachting proposed and pursued projects for this event, but only one made it to the start line. There are a dozen reasons why she shouldn’t have, which could have been backed up with a dozen justifiable excuses why she didn’t. But that is the nature of Tony Bullimore. He has pursued this goal at great personal and emotional expense with his characteristic determination. Those still onboard share his goals and will see this through to the finish line in Marseilles.”
“I had great reservations about joining Team Legato in the days leading up to the start. In fact I pulled out a couple of days before when it all looked a little too desperate. After the crushing disappointment of losing Team Philips, I didn’t think I could muster the energy to face the trials and tribulations that this particular team were about to endure. Only on the eve of the start did I realise that I had to do it. The thought of not having a go at an event that I too have pursued a little too excessively for a couple of years was too intolerable. If I go, I go the whole hog and I’m sure it ain’t going to be pretty. Sitting in a bar it all sounds easy. Lose your focus on the goal and the discomfort goes on forever. Forget the TV series ‘The House’. Try putting ten people from five nations in a handful of hours into the pressure cooker of a non-stop round the world race on one of the fastest maxi multihulls in the world. You can’t just go and sit in your room and sulk, then want to get off. This, mixed up with all the frustrations of being becalmed in the raw cold power of the Southern Ocean, and see what happens. Anyone who thought it was going to be easy was living in fairyland. Focusing on the goal is the only thing that will see you through. An almost critical lack of preparation time meant that despite the fact that we still had to complete 150 miles of qualification before the start, we still spent eight rushed hours on the dock, before even that could be commenced.”