The Sailors Answer Your E-Mails

Feb. 1 -- As they plow ahead in the world's first nonstop, around-the-world sailing race, the crew of Team Adventure, the only American-skippered boat left in the competition, is taking time to answer your e-mail questions.

How can they do that? Each boat in the race is actually outfitted with a fairly elaborate communication system. They all have computers equipped with Internet and e-mail access, which crew members are using to communicate with their families, friends, and the media. In addition, the boats have navigational computers that can predict the weather and show them their position in the race, as well as where they stand in relation to their competitors.

So what's it like to sail around the world? Are the sailors eating three meals a day? What drives a person to do this kind of thing? Find out what the sailors had to say below. And if you didn't get a chance to ask your question yet, click here to do so.

Question: How much sleep does each crew member get each night? Keep up the good work. Sail fast and go get 'em. — Rob of Newport Coast, Calif.

Answer: We operate on a 24-hour clock here, and each crew has a continuousfour hours on and four hours off during each day. Sleep is a commodity andeveryone tries to get at least eight hours a day in the bunk. Sometimes itis more and sometimes less depending on the eating, working, fixing, andnumber of sail changes needed every day. Some days like today it is reallyhard to sleep due to horrific seas and the fact that we are sailing upwind,into the wind and seas. A very arduous and bumpy road, each wave 10 secondsapart is a huge pothole. — Cam Lewis, skipper

Question: All of you are experienced sailors, but what are thegreatest day-to-day challenges you face?— The 5th-grade class at Mesa Grande Elementary in Hesperia, Calif.

Answer: Balancing safety and speed is a great challenge. We had anunfortunate accident where two crew were hurt and the boat was damaged. Thismight have been avoided had we slowed down sooner. Staying focused on thegoal of finishing and trying to win are great challenges, especially when weare now a long way behind the leaders. You have to finish to win. Anotherchallenge is trying to get as much good communication off the boat everyday. Doing fun stuff like answering your questions is one example. If youcould only see me trying to type as we literally leap from wave top to wavetop on this machine — yeek!