By JULIE ASH
The Southern Ocean is still as cold and miserable as ever for News Corp navigator Ross Field.
Field, who has sailed around the globe four times, said the treacherous second leg from Cape Town to Sydney in the round-the-world race did not get any easier.
"It has been cold
and wet and uncomfortable," he said.
"We have had some fantastic sailing and some terrible sailing.
"This leg has been very hard, not only on the boat and equipment but also on the body."
Field has cracked ribs after he was thrown across the boat.
"The power of the wave that hit me was amazing - it completely flattened me.
"I was lucky that Barney [Walker] saw what was happening and leapt to the wheel because the boat was charging along at 20 knots with no one steering."
He said that besides the weather, icebergs had also challenged the fleet.
"We started seeing icebergs a long way north, which was very surprising.
"Some of the icebergs were two miles across, but the dangerous ones are the those that are partially submerged.
"They can be as big as a normal house, but because they are two-thirds under water you can't see them."
Field's News Corp was in fifth place last night behind illbruck, SEB, Assa Abloy and djuice.
But only about 14 nautical miles separated the top five boats.
Grant Dalton's Amer Sports One was 166 nautical miles behind the leader.
The all-female crew on Amer Sports Too were more than 500 nautical miles behind.
Dalton and his crew retrieved an airdrop of medical supplies for crewman Keith Kilpatrick, who is suffering from a suspected blocked intestine.
The fleet are now approaching Eclipse Island, off the south-western tip of Australia.
"The weather is beautiful. We are reaching along in westerly winds," Field said.
"The yacht race has started again. It is going to be a real battle all the way to Sydney, but hopefully we'll make it there first."
The leading boats are expected to reach Sydney next weekend.
