The Sailors Answer Your E-Mails

Feb. 1, 2001 -- 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!

— Larry Rosenfeld, co-skipper

Question: When is the best time to eat your meals? Do you get a chance toeat three meal a day? Is boredom part of the day when you are at the helm?— Ray of Park Ridge, N.J.

Answer: We eat at sunrise or thereabouts, at midday and then have dinnerafter dark in late evening. So, yes we eat three meals a day, and usuallyhave two snacks during the night hours — energy bars, cup of soups,biscuits etc. We also take daily multi-vitamin supplements with lots ofnutriments and minerals. We do this because we make our own desalinatedwater that has all the minerals taken out along with the salt.

Helming is usually the best part of the day unless we are in theparking lot with no wind. Boredom is for boring people.

— Larry Rosenfeld

Question: We are doing a report on current events and want to ask you a couple of questions. We would really appreciate it if you wrote back to us as soon as possible.— Brittany and Rachel

Question: How do you feel about this?

Answer: I like answering questions and am really happy you have becomeinterested in this great adventure.

Question: What is the reward?

Answer: There are many possible rewards from competing. Winning would behuge, finishing big too, motivating kids is a reward.

Question: Where do you come from?

Answer: I live in Lincolnville Maine, USA. Two other crew members are fromthe United States — Randy Smyth (Fort Walton Beach, Fla.) and Larry Rosenfeld(Marblehead, Mass.) and the other seven are from France, although big FredCarrere lives with his family in Ithaca, NY.

Question: Where have you been to?

Answer: Around the world on a catamaran in 79 days nonstop. To the top ofthe World Trade Center in New York (not in a catamaran). To New Zealand,Australia, Tahiti, Hawaii, Mexico, Brazil, Colombia, The Bahamas, Tasmania,London, Kenya, Tanzania, Zaire, Senegal, Gambia, Russia, Estonia, Finland,Denmark, Sweden, Germany, Switzerland, Italy, Portugal, Morocco, Ireland,Scotland, Canada, Malta, Gozo, Ibiza, Majorca, Luxembourg, Antigua, St.Maarten, Tortola, the Great Barrier Reef, Japan, China, Hong Kong and manymore places. Still lots of places and people to see!

Question: What made you decide to do this?

Answer: It is the greatest nautical challenge in the world and most peopletold me I could not do it, so I set out to prove to them that I could.

— Cam Lewis

Question: Do you have a ham radio aboard and if so, do you have a skid?— Cal of Ann, Texas

Answer: Yes we do have a ham/ssb, but we have some technical glitches withit and we have been so busy with other communications that we haven't firedthe ham rig up yet. It's easier to communicate today with satellite phones ande-mail (we have three separate satellite phone systems). However, we wantedto have ham as an important back up to our other systems.— Larry Rosenfeld

Question: I'm a teacher of fourth-grade students. The children recentlyfinished learning how to locate places on a map using latitude andlongitude. We've been following the race at the Web site, www.therace.org. The site posts thelatitude and longitude locations of the catamarans daily. I made a post itfor each cat with its name. Each time we check your positions, we move the stickers toshow where each cat is. It has been a great way to enjoy the race while getting somereal-life meaning from the latitude and longitude numbers. God speed.— Elizabeth of Sunland, Calif.

Answer: This is fantastic. Some ideas: study some of the countries we pass,learn about time zones, have groups of kids adopt a boat and learn moreabout each team, have the kids draw or build boats and send pics to our Website, visit www.nationalgeographic.com for more more ideas,www.teamadventure.org too. It would be great if your students could findsome ways to register their dismay at the decimation of the albatross by thelong line fishermen in the Southern Ocean. These birds are the most amazingflying creatures. They hardly flap their wings and fly around our boat withease even when we are at top speed. We certainly would miss such beautifulbirds if we all don't take care to save them.— Cam Lewis

From: Joe of Rogers, Ark.

Question: What drives a person to do this kind of thing?

Answer: I'd go stir crazy sitting on my porch in Maine all winter, so I hadto go out and do something. The first time I sailed around the world, Iwanted to make sure the world was round. After I confirmed that, I wantedto do it again with a bigger boat and be the leader of a team. The Raceprovided us the opportunity to do it and to share our experience with theworld. ABC-TV and the Web site has been great at helping us spread the word.

Question: The challenge of life and death?

Answer: Everyone will die someday, even me and I'd rather not do so sittingon the porch.

Question: Adrenaline rush?

Answer: Lots of them everyday

Question: Money?

Answer: Costs a lot!

Question: Is there lots of politics and red tape to sail in this race?

Answer: Just like any other professional sporting event there is all theabove, but when we get out here, we're free.

Question: Where did most of these sailors get there start in sailing?

Answer: I was introduced by my parents. The rest of them ran away at ayoung age and were pressed into service on some clipper ship!!

— Cam Lewis

From: Lenny of Tampa, Fla.

Question: What keeps you going after hours of being pounded by rough seas?

Answer: The lure of the smell of spring flowers in the South of France.

Question: What goes through your mind while you are right on the edge?

Answer: Staying on the edge. (I hope the guy behind me has his hand on themainsheet ready to ease the sheet if it proves necessary).

— Cam Lewis

Question: I started to think of you guys today. And I wish I was there. MayTeam Adventure have tremendous success, and may the wind always be true. I have totell I love sailing and wish I was there, except I know the tremendousdifficulty. As I write I have a brother on my 34ft Capri missing in the Gulfof Mexico, this makes the 24th day w/o making port, the CG called me this yesterday andtoday; he hasn't been to any marina off the Mexican coast, yet. No distresssignal, and sighting from the air. What comfort that is, I haven't even toldmy mother and father yet. What a weekend I have. May your adventure be safe.— Tim of Atlanta, Georgia

Answer: Hi Tim, I hope by the time you get this answer your brother hasbeen found safe and was simply delayed by the weather. Our thoughts are withyou. We certainly think about safety here on our boat a lot. All the best.

— Cam Lewis