Just four hours after solo sailor, Michel Kleinjans crossed the finish line off Wellington on racing yacht, Roaring Forty, the British double-handed team in the Portimão Global Ocean Race followed the Belgian yachtsman at 01:30:35 GMT (14:30:35 local) this morning on Class 40, Team Mowgli and completed Leg 2 of this round-the-world event. Jeremy Salvesen and co-skipper, David Thomson, completed the 6,900 mile voyage through the Southern Ocean from Cape Town, South Africa to New Zealand in 37 days, 15 hours, 00 minutes and 35 seconds to take third place in the double-handed division.
“We were quite ecstatic to see the finish line,” admitted Salvesen from Queens Wharf, shortly after docking and clearing Customs. “It has been a long, long journey. It has been a longer leg for us in many ways as we had a pretty rough time out there.” The early stages of the race all belonged to Team Mowgli. On the fifth day after starting Leg 2 in Cape Town, Salvesen and Thomson took the lead, recording the best speed in the fleet and were the furthest south in the double-handed division as the first low pressure system rolled eastwards towards the yachts. On the 23rd December as the second, big low pressure hit the fleet, Team Mowgli was holding a 62 mile lead over the Chileans on Desafio Cabo de Hornos as the British continued to dive south into the Southern Ocean, plunging to within 90 miles of the Portimão Global Ocean Race latitude limit at 50°S.
“On the next leg, we’re going to go with whatever weather systems we see,” continues Salvesen. “But we’ll be more warey, I think. We really don’t want to get caught in another hurricane, especially one that hasn’t been forecast!” On Christmas Eve, a 60 knot gust and an enormous wave washed over Team Mowgli, destroying most of the satellite communications gear on board and destroying the pushpit. Despite this experience, the British duo have no fear of the Southern Ocean: “So, I don’t have a problem with going south,” Salvesen confirms. “I don’t have a problem with being cold, but I do have a problem with hurricanes.” Salvesen’s co-skipper, David Thomson, agrees: “I’m looking forward to getting back into the Southern Ocean,” he comments. “But not going back into 80 knots like we had in the last leg. We’ve both learnt a great deal and know we don’t want to get ourselves in that position again. No matter how good it looks at the time.”