Out of Doldrums

Doldrums in the south Atlantic on the first leg to Buenos Aires in Argentina.

One of Mr Duffield's crew members, James Davies, described the conditions on board as "hell on earth".

In an e-mail sent on Tuesday, he wrote: "As I type this it's just after breakfast and it is already over 30 centigrade below decks with humidity in excess of 90 per cent and the only thing stopping me from sweating with the effort of typing is the open hatch above me.

"Thankfully, we are having a relatively easy passage through the Doldrums and are still moving along at a good speed although we are sailing back upwind for the first time in a week or so.

"Last night we finally encountered our first proper Doldrums squall and were forced to drop the spinnaker quickly and change down to the head sails and reef the main as the wind rose from five knots to 25 knots in a couple of minutes.

"We have got our fingers crossed that we will be out the far side by this time tomorrow and have only another 24 hours or so of keeping an eye on every approaching cloud and being ready to respond immediately."

BG Spirit is currently in seventh place in the race but skipper Andy Forbes is confident they will be able to catch up with the boats ahead of them.

He said: "The chase is on and we have no intention of letting up on the guys ahead. We crossed paths with Sark and BP last Thursday, all of us within half a mile of each other in the dead of night.

"They are currently to the east and we are converging tracks so it will be interesting to see who comes up trumps.

"Whatever way it goes it will be close. The boats ahead on our current track are slowly getting reeled in and we are sure they are looking over their shoulders thinking, "here they come".

"We have had our fair share of bad luck but good sailing comes from the commitment shown within.

"The crew is rising to every little challenge they are given and conquering them all with true grit and sheer determination."

Mr Duffield is looking forward to making landfall in Buenos Aires some time during the first week of November.

He will be meeting his recent bride Elena, whom he married in April, for their belated honeymoon.

Meanwhile, former St. Mary's schoolgirl Emma-Kate Lacey is currently riding high with the rest of her crew in joint first place in the Global Challenge.

Miss Lacey, 25, is on the Barclay's Adventurer yacht, which is currently battling with Samsung boat.

Miss Lacey, who is a doctor at Southampton Hospital and is also the medic on board her boat, said they are over halfway to Buenos Aires.

She also said that they have still to pass the Equator, however, and she also finds the heat on board unpleasant.

"When you see the rain it comes as if a hose is turned upon us," she said.

"There's nothing quite as refreshing as a freshwater rain storm and not one complaint of being soaked has come as we all feel such relief from the humid stagnant air."

After the first few days of gales the weather has calmed across the Atlantic.

Miss Lacey said the crew have had some spectacular sights so far.

"Yesterday we not only had the pleasure of dolphins by darkness but also had a whale playmate who provided us with a great show of lifting his whole body up and then splashing down creating a fantastic wave.

"He even blew spray which was quite spectacular and we were all somewhat jealous of his cool ocean play pen."

Cathy Birch, the senior project manager at Barclays, said all the crew are really enjoying the experience.

"I am very proud of them and they really deserve it.

"They have put in so much effort and they are all proud themselves."

Miss Lacey signed up to the Global Challenge, described as the world's toughest yacht race, in 2000 and is part of the 18-strong crew on the Barclay's Adventurer.

En route she will also stop in Wellington, where she will see her mother, Sydney, Cape Town, Boston and La Rochelle before returning to Portsmouth.