Cape Horn! After 66 days, 16 hours and 14 minutes of racing, Foresight Natural Energy passed Cape Horn. Having already been around the world twice, it was not an entirely new experience for Conrad however this was the first time solo. After a tough Pacific crossing, it was a great relief « After my misadventures in the Southern Ocean I'm disappointed I can't push as hard and be as competitive as I would like but but it puts things in perspective. I was a hair's breadth away

Entering the "Roaring Forties", the band of latitude between 40 and 50 degrees south, is always a great moment. When going down the south atlantic it means the beginning of the south, the long swells, the grey days and the start of the strong winds that roar, hence the name. Entering this band going back up again means an escape from all that and the promise of calmer days and the opportunity to untangle the nerves that were wound tight by weeks of stress. Even now at 48 de

Northwards! After rounding Isla de los Estados, the South American Sicily off the tip of the peninsula, I finally turned left for real and headed due north under my Code 0 foresail. A beautiful day that had me searching for my sunglasses after weeks of grey. I really enjoyed sailing quietly on a perfectly flat sea in the lee of the islands, a welcome change after the constant surfing and banging and crashing. The tranquility didn't last long however as dark clouds rolled i

Third time around and solo! It feels amazing to be finally around the last major landmark on the course and now focus on getting as much north into my route as possible instead of the constant run to the east and defines the marathon in the south. In such a lonely point on the planet it was strange to be standing on deck and then see the dark shape of a huge trimaran emerge from the mists. It was Idec Sport, a massive 100 foot trimaran that left France on December 16th 2016

Epic start to 2017 After celebrating Christmas, things spiced up for the New Year. 2017 was looking great: Conrad was catching up with Nandor Fa when a mainsail batten came out of its box forcing him to reduce speed and repair it. When fixing anything on the mainsail, it is important to slow the boat down and to drop the sail to be able to work on it. This resulted in Conrad being unable to escape North to avoid a low pressure system (storm) building under the ice limit. We h

Ok, it's seriously COLD down here now. I have 1100 miles to go until the Horn but at 54 degrees south I am only a thousand miles from Antartica and with the southerly winds blowing it feels like I'm skimming the sea ice as I go by. I'll soon be even closer as rounding Cape Horn forces me to pass through the narrow Drake Passage, the 450 mile wide straight that separates the tip of the Andes from the tip of the Antarctic Peninsula. One downside to my 100% Natural Energy camp

Hi everyone Just a small note to say Happy New Year! Whether you're watching the silver ball fall in Times Square or watching the sun come up on a beach on the east coast of NZ, or indeed anywhere in between, I hope that 2017 is the year that you're able to achieve your goals, set new scarier ones and have a great time along the way. The start of this edition of the Vendee Globe meant that 2016 was a red letter year, a goal that I aimed at for a long long time and now as I sl

Je sais bien que le front froid est passé! Il fait un temps glacial ici à 52° sud dans une masse d'air froid, et sans moteur thermique ni chauffage c'est un peu dur. Si j'avais un moteur comme les autres bateaux pour charger mes batteries, je crois que je serai capable de lui faire un câlin, lui donner des petits noms, lui faire des bisous ! Les moyens pour me réchauffer sont un petit peu moins excitants. Beaucoup de très bons vêtements thermiques grâce à GILL, des patchs the

Well, I certainly know that the cold front has passed over! It's freezing down here at 52 degrees south in a cold air mass, without a heater or an engine. If I had an engine to charge my batteries like the other boats I would start it up and cuddle with it, calling it pet names, shower it with kisses! How I actually keep warm is less exciting. Lots of excellent thermal layers from Gill, chemical hot patches that I stick to my thermals and lots and lots of tea and soup! Stil

C'est la saison de Noël et je suis sûr que vous courez dans tous les sens et perdez parfois un peu vos repères. Malheureusement mon bateau a le même problème et il continue à se coucher de manière inopinée! Les conditions sont plutôt raisonnables avec un vent variant entre 25 et 30 noeuds et des rafales un peu plus fortes, j'ai 1 ris dans la grand voile et un petit foc (petite voile d'avant). Malheureusement, une rafale plus forte que les autres a couché le bateau à nouveau c