From Steve Fossett's website (www.stevefossett.com):
Sailing conditions were excellent, with W/NW winds remaining strong at 20 kts+ throughout the day as the 125' maxicat tracked almost due East at 21-25 kts boat speed.
No detailed reports have yet been received from Cheyenne's 2 French rivals Geronimo and Orange II, which both re-started from the RTW startline at Ouessant yestrday.
Cheyenne watch captain Brian Thompson wrote last night of yesterday's events:
Thurs (pm) 26 Feb: "Today we saw our first iceberg, passing about 3 miles down our leeward side to the south of us. It looked a couple of hundred yards long and not too tall, as you could see the spray breaking over the top.
An hour later we saw our second one, about 3 times the size and brilliant white in colour. This one looked like the size and shape of a car carrier ship, but one that was 'not under command'. It was a beautiful sight, the only solid surface we have seen since Ushant. Naturally there is a certain level of risk with their presence, and the more numerous they are the greater that is. Fortunately we are right at the northern edge of their limits at the Antarctic Convergence Zone, which is the limit of the cold water from the frozen continent. It is in fact unusual to see them in this location, according to our weather routers in the US. During the following 8 hours we have not seen any others.
This one showed up at 7 mile range on the radar and passed the same distance to leeward. If there are any loose bits of ice they are generally to leeward of the berg so we were clear of these. Now it is night we are paying very close attention to the radar, we will only have 15 minutes warning of any target, just enough time to furl the blast reacher and head above it, or to bear away and try to pass further to leeward.
There seems to be little tracking of these individual bergs as there is in the N. Atlantic in the Labrador current, presumably due to the vast area and the scarcity of vessels passing through these waters. There was a report of some ice from the US navy at 50S and 25 W, well to the S and W of us. Most of the anecdotal data that does exist from previous races and passages through these latitudes suggests that as we head east the risk diminishes, in this ocean at least.
Sailing conditions are still perfect with 20 knots of wind propelling us east at 25 knots. Up ahead we have the Kergeulan Islands, which are on our route. There is a large bank of shallower water around this area with a lot of kelp and the potentially rougher seas. So we are going to have to decide tomorrow, in the light of the latest weather, which side of them to pass. They are now 1300 miles ahead.
Today we dropped the blast reacher for a while to shorten the luff rope, which has been stretching since the start of the trip. Justin and Fraser were working on this project.
Otherwise all good, and as Jacques said, this is all gravy and very unusual for here. Damian was here on Kingfisher 2 last year and was under storm spinnaker and 2 or 3 reefs, with big seas. We are gliding along under full sail with low stress on the boat and the crew... - Brian"
www.brianthompsonsailing.com