in a phone call. • "Thirty hours after the start, the wind didn’t decrease a single bit and Maserati surfed the waves at an unbelievable speed — touching 33 knots." • At the end of six days they had entered the trade winds and covered more than 1900 miles, and were reaching toward the equator at 16 knots. "We are wet from head to toe but happy!"
Soldini and crew skated across the Atlantic equatorial zone with hardly any slowdown. • Just after the nine-day mark they crossed the equator, averaging 14.4 knots. "We crossed the equator rather quickly and we didn’t get stuck in light winds," said Soldini. But they did get into some fluky air, and nearly got knocked down during a sudden squall.
• During days 13 and 14, their luck with the wind gods gave out, but only temporarily. Maserati got trapped in a "dead-calm zone with no winds, mixed with sudden squalls and wind shifts." But on day 15 a stable southeasterly piped back up to 20 knots."We’ve been fighting like mad against the weak winds and the sudden wind shifts, wasting our energy without gaining many miles." • The approach to Cape Horn was predictably tricky, navigating through changing currents and winds — often on the nose. "We have seen an iceberg on the radar," said Soldini on day 22. "We keep struggling to move forward mile by mile." • Maserati rounded the Cape eight hours ahead of Gitana's time — and 30 days ahead of Flying Cloud.
W
e'll continue to bring you updates in 'Lectronic Latitude (www.latitude38.
MICHELE SIGHEL
THE HARD WAY
Having crossed his first ocean at age 16, Giovanni Soldini is no stranger to offshore adventures. In fact, he thrives on them.
com as they approach, and we hope to com) see a huge contingent of sailors out on the water to welcome them in when they arrive. If they break the record, Champagne corks will by flying. — latitude/andy (Follow Maserati's progress at http:// maserati.soldini.it/?lang=en.)
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February, 2013 •
Latitude 38
• Page 87