A Sprint versus a Marathon

Vendee Globe, one of the most challenging races in the world of sailing is now taking place. It is a single-handed, non-stop, around the world race and the contestants are right in the area of Cape Horn where Reid is currently sailing. Some boats are ahead of him, others behind. What is making the race so exciting at the moment are the gale force headwinds that are about to hit those attempting to round Cape Horn. The racers are tense as wait for the bad weather to arrive. For some, those strong winds may cause damage that takes them out of the race. For others, it may only slow them down a little. Already more than half of the boats that began the race have stopped before finishing.

For Reid, those winds are just another challenge in a whole series of challenges. He has no driving need to keep going forward within a certain time frame, or rather his time frame is so long, it doesnʼt matter. If he had to, he could drift back the way he came or in a direction he never intended on going. Losing two or three days of headway is a non-issue. That is one of the major differences between racing and endurance sailing. In another month or so, the racing sailors will end up in port, hopefully with their boats and bodies intact. They, like the weather will have come and gone, but Reid will still be out sailing in the far reaches of the ocean for another four hundred days.

--Soanya