21st December, 2001 -It has been just 3 months from the time the "National Investment Institute" rolled out of the McIntyre Marine factory north of Sydney to its rounding of Cape Horn earlier today. The horn greeted them with 60 knots winds and 6 metre seas, it has since abated to around 40 knots. The sun is out, they are just 30 miles from land and are in radio contact with Ushuaia. They will be in port later on today to stock up on supplies, fix the little damage suffered in the last storm and ready themsleves for the next leg!

20th December, 2001 -With Ushuaia beckoning, the expedition yacht "National Investment Institute" is approaching Cape Horn and all the interesting moments that go with it. The seas, which are already on the rise, can get very lumpy, regardless of wind speed or direction, making the Cape Horn rounding the adventure that it is! The yacht is still averaging around 7 knots so they should reach port in just under 2 days, but this leg is far from over!

19th December, 2001 -With about 3 days to go to Ushuaia, the "National Investment Institute" is enjoying better conditions today with the fog lifting a bit. At one stage, the fog was so thick that they couldnt see even one boat length in front of them. A bit scary when you've seen monster icebergs about! Luckily, the wind increased, blowing the fog away somewhat. The yacht is consequently sailing well averaging nearly 7.5 knots. The boat is now so far south that they are down to only 3 hours of darkness making sleep a little awkward, thank god for cloudy dark days!

18th December, 2001 -"Foggy" is the word for today. A warm fog has rolled over the "National Investment Institute", reducing the visibility to less than half a mile. This is making the lookout for icebergs fun as they are still romping along at over 8 knots with the spinnaker up. Fortunately, none have been seen today! With only just over 600 miles to go, the crew are looking forward to Christmas on land but they still have Cape Horn to get around yet!

17th December -With just over 800 miles to go and Ushuia beckoning, the weather has lightened up. Cool, clear skies and 15 knots coming right from behind give the crew a chance to wrap presents and get prepared for their landing hopefully in 4-5 days time. The crew have seen another iceberg on late Friday about the size of a Football Stadium(!), so they still need to keep a good lookout. Luckily, being so far south, they are only experiencing about 4 hours of darkness so it makes it easier to keep watch!

14th December, 2001(AM)-"National Investment Institute" is moving into ice territory. The crew are sailing through snow squalls and with the wind now coming up from the SW at around 30-35kts, the wind chill factor is well below zero. The seas are starting to drop a little from the last couple of days, giving the crew a chance to take a breath and relax with a hot coffee. The yacht is still on course to reach Tierra Del Fuego before Christmas with just under 1300 miles to go.

14th December, 2001(PM)-The crew finally have some ice to go with their scotch! They spotted their first iceberg this afternoon. It was described as approximately the size of "a couple of houses". So now the night watch have something else to do, look out for "growlers". The temperature on deck is around 8 deg C but with 10-15 knots of Southerly breeze across the deck, the wind chill is well below zero. With the drop in wind, the crew have got the wind generator up and running again and is charging batteries nicely.

13th December, 2001 -Isn't it the way..when it happens, it all happens at once? That was the situation on board the "National Investment Institute" during the wild storm that hit them on the 11th. David Pryce was just coming out of the compaionway to see the watch skipper dragging himself over the back of the boat after being washed off..still attached by his harness lines. He smiled & handed him a warm towel and told him "Welcome to the Southern Ocean!". The boat later was also involved in a 70 degree "knockdown" where two more members were washed out of the cockpit. So, for the first time, there were alot of wide eyes on board the "NII" ! The wind has since eased considerably to around 20 knots from the SW and with the barometer on the rise, the crew can have a bit of a clean up and start to swap stories!

11th December, 2001 - Colder & windier!... The yacht is starting to experience true Southern Ocean weather with the boat sailing into a big low, the barometer sitting on 985mb and dropping. The seas are building up to about 3m and rising. The crew are looking forward to their first real challenge. There may be a few nervous moments but this is what the expedition is all about!

Stop press..Just as I was about to put this up, we recieved another report from the "National Investment Institute". The barometer has dropped to 975mb, the wind is now 55 knots with the seas builidng up to 10m (33ft). The seas have bent their HF Radio antenna over at right angles. The crew are all well, spending most time below deck obviously! This is exactly what this yacht was built for so the crew are happy to hang on and enjoy the ride!!

10th December, 2001 -The weather hasn't changed a great deal over the weekend, with the wind still coming in at around 20-30 knots from the WSW giving the crew a nice run, averaging 7 knots over the 72 hours. Cold is definitely becoming a problem thus the crew are finding their visits up on deck are getting shorter and shorter! They crossed the "halfway" mark on Friday night still looking to be on track to reach Ushuaia on the 21st. Saturday was a little bit uncomfortable with the swell getting up to around 4m (13ft) but nothing to trouble the boat. On a sadder note, the crew heard the news about Sir Peter Blake on Saturday. Both the crew and everyone involved with the "National Investment Institute" are shocked with the events surrounding his passing and our thoughts go out to his family.

7th December, 2001 -The Southern Ocean has finally started to show its true colours with a nice 50 knot rain squall screaming in from the North West making the crew work for a change. The crew are all well drilled by now and handled this "little test" with ease. It only was for a few hours before swinging around to the WSW and easing to 30 knots. Dave Pryce, Skipper of "National Investment Institute", simply described this as "Classic Southern Ocean". Through all this the boat still managed to average over 7.5 knots, proving what a solid fast yacht the "National Investment Instiute" is proving to be. I guess there will be no home made Pizza tonight!

6th December, 2001 -The beautiful run that the "National Investment Institute" has experienced for the last week has slowed up a little with the breeze disappearing completely for a time before coming back at around 10 knots. Conseqently, the yacht made just 148nm over 24 hrs. However, the breeze is building again it seems so the crew are happy about that! The yacht is still on course to reach Ushuaia by Christmas.

5th December, 2001 -Today the "National Investment Institute" reached the "Furious Fifties", crossing the 50 degree latitude late yesterday afternoon. Not so "furious" as tradition would have it, the crew and yacht still enjoying easy reaching condition in a slight swell. Even with the wind dropping slightly, the yacht is still making good time; covering 190nm since the last report. The crew are enjoying the Southern Ocean, so far no "nasty surprises", but with just under 2800 miles to go..anything can happen!

4th December, 2001 -The "National Investment Institute" is continuing its good run, covering another 190 Nautical Miles in the last 24 hours. The wind has dropped slightly but the boat is still romping along a good 7 knots. The crew haven't had any problems charging batteries as the conditions have been ideal for the wind generator. The yacht is still sailing around the edge of a nice high pressure system although it is moving away slightly. The crew are still enjoying the conditions and are busy telling stories and making lively conversation! They are still on course to reach Ushuaia before Christmas.

3rd December, 2001 -The crew have enjoyed a wonderful weekend on the "National Investment Institute". The yacht is skirting the edge of a super high pressure system which is bringing ideal conditions for the yacht. Consequently they have averaged over 180 miles per day over the weekend and are looking like reaching Ushuaia in 19 days; hopefully in time for Christmas! The crew are "too" comfortable, enjoying home (yacht?) made pizza for dinner on Saturday night with full sail up in ideal reaching conditions. Conseqently, they are all in very high spirits and loving every second of this voyage.

30th Nov, 2001 -Today's report from the "National Investment Institute" was summed up with the last two words, "Champagne Sailing". With a beautiful 20kts breeze coming over the rear quarter, cloud clearing, full moon, great sunsets..how else could you describe it? The boat and crew have travelled 175nm over the last 24 hours, so the crew are obviously very upbeat. Unfortunately, it hasn't all been "beer & skittles". The starter motor on the auxillary, which broke down on the first leg, has decided that things are all too hard and gone on strike! This leaves the boat without its main source of recharging power. It certainly isn't a major drama, however. The yacht still has two other sources of power to re-charge batteries; solar panels & a wind generator. Just one of those things that make this trip an adventure!!

29th Nov, 2001 -What a difference a day makes!! After spending yesterday sitting around cleaning the boat and waiting for something to happen, today is very different! This is one of those days that will make up for all the wet, wild weather & the glassy calms that the "National Investment Institute" will face. The crew "endured" beautiful reaching conditions the boat averaging over 9kts..221nm in a day! With the wind blowing around 20kts with virtually no swell, the crew are loving life..apart from the cloud, but we can't make it too easy for them can we? If these conditions can continue for a few days, the yacht will certainly make up for the time lost in the last 36 hours previously.

28th Nov, 2001 -The crew aboard the "National Investment Institute" have alot of time to think about their voyage at the moment. Especially since the wind decided to disappear completely! The view from the yacht is more like a millpond rather than the middle of the Southern Ocean! They are only making around 90nm a day..which sounds alot until you equate it back to a speed of 4kts! So the crew are a little frustrated but it will hopefully change soon and get the yacht back on its way again!

27th Nov, 2001 -The wind has eased off considerably in the last 24 hrs to around 15kts from the ESE, so the crew are experiencing the wind on the nose but thankfully the swell has eased with the wind (around 1 meter) so they are all comfortable, in good spirits and starting to really "get into" what the Club Venture voyage is all about...doing something thats a little bit out there and living a dream.. There is still a little bit of cloud about, but generally it's clear; good visibility & the crew and yacht are happy (apart from the disappointment of Australia in the World Cup Qualifier, at least they will have a more pleasant reception when they get to Uruguay!).

26th Nov, 2001 - "National Investment Institute" is experienced a tiny taste of the Southern Ocean over the weekend. The wind moved aroung to the South, increasing to 30 knots on Friday night it eased a little to 25 knots by Saturday night but by then the waves had increased to 3 meters. These conditions gave 3 of the crew their first bout of seasickness, but they all quickly recovered and were fine by Saturday night. The boat passed north of Chatham Island (43° 55' S, 176° 30' E) by this stage. The crew are very happy with the boats perfromance having travelled over 450 nautical miles (nearly 850km) since leaving on the 22nd, averaging a speed of around 7 knots. The cloud is now starting to clear a little and the barometer is looking a little happier (1025mb) so the next few days are looking like they could be quite good for the guys (and girl!).

23rd Nov, 2001 -The yacht is making excellent progress. The seas are slight, about 1m with a 15kt breeze coming in from the SW, giving the crew some pleasent reaching conditions. The crew are getting a little bit of a taste of the cold with a temperature of just 14 degC plus overcast conditions. They are all in good spirits with the thought hitting home of what they are all about to personally achieve.

22nd Nov, 2001 - The "National Investment Institute" left today from Wellington Harbour on voyage to Ushuaia, some 5,000 miles away. The crew are extremely excited about the trip..the yacht is perfect..preperation couldn't be better. The media have developed a huge interest in this trip with ABC Radio doing a live interview in the middle of the Southern Ocean. We will be posting pics as they are sent to us from the yacht.

21st Nov, 2001 - The yacht has been left stranded in Wellington still. The combination of wind and circumstance has given the crew a couple of days to finalise details, take a big breath & look east..the yacht has been fitted with a "Auto Polling" device that will automatically transmit regularly the boat's position, speed & course. All is looking good for the final departure (fingers crossed!) tomorrow, 22nd Nov. We have added an added feature on the site from today. A up to date satellite weather pic with the Yachts position marked on it will both show where the yacht is plus giving you a look at what weather the yacht is experiencing. Scroll down to check this out and stay tuned....

19th Nov, 2001 - The "National Investment Institute" is due to leave tomorrow at 1200NZT, weather permitting!! It is currently blowing around 60kts..not ideal conditions but hopefully the wind will abate a little. Meanwhile the crew are making last minute preparations and generally enjoying the hospitality that the people of Wellington have extended.