This race may well go into the history books of Cirrus as the "seasickness" race.

We had a tight start with almost all boats of our division crossing the start line pretty much simultaneously. Something more seen in buoy races, where seconds count, not so much on ocean races, where the risk of damaging the boat is not worth the gain of a few seconds. Also unusual was that the boats were staying together for a long time after start; at least in the beginning everybody was trying pretty much the same strategy. Wind was good at 10 to 15 knots, although a long shot away from the gale force winds, that were forecasted. The waves and swells, however, were more of a problem and are remaining strong. Sometimes reaching 5 m (15 feet); the deck was thoroughly washed many times. Some bigger waves dumped bathtubs full of water into the cockpit, which we did not enjoy that much. Furthermore, the wind direction forced us to go close-hauled, which meant banging against wind and waves and swells for the last 24 hours.

I was first to give my dues to the gods of the sea. Marie-Pierre, who was down below crawling through the forward storage rooms for my medical bag, suddenly rushed out and joined me in the party. We had great fun spitting at the fish. Greg was watching us and asked whether he could join. But he was such a party pooper, all he wanted was some drugs, and after he got them went away. Later on, he partied all by himself. Donna and Dave made it ok through the evening, but partied through the night. I can tell you, their faces had passport quality in the morning. The only one untouched by all of this was Bill, who happily chatted and - ugh - nibbled at some food through the day and the night. I was laying down, knocked out and under drugs, and of no use so far. I haven't even touched the helm yet, can you imagine?

Fortunately, we had Otto Helm on board (some also call him Autohelm, the guy with hydraulic muscles to operate the rudder). Otto does really well in these close-hauled conditions, and he does not get seasick. Wave activity increased in the night, and cold spray and douses became even more frequent. So most of the driving was off-loaded to Otto, and the watch people could hide under the dodger. Weather is moderate. Completely grey sky since start, with only one moment of brightness, when the sun tried to make it through the clouds. But for off-shore San Francisco this is good - it is not raining!

This morning's roll call gave some good news at last. We were quite pleased with performance, being #3 in our division, and #5 overall for the 20 boats that have already started. Still, we did not meet our own performance with Cirrus in 1998. But so far it is all going close-hauled and with white sails. Much will now depend on how the Pacific High will or will not develop over the next few days.

Aloha,
Ulli