Every four years a group of sailors compete in the longest individual race held in any race. The race has had different names and is currently sponsored by a Danish window company called Velux. The sailors race around the world in stages, with time between each of them to refit the ship. The first leg of this year's course started in France and went to the Capetown, South Africa. Stage two was from Capetown to Wellington, New Zealand.
Later today, about 730p our time, the third leg will start. This one will have them leave Wellington and sail across the south Pacific (into what they call the Southern Ocean), around Cape Horn and up to Punta del Este, Argentina. This means sailing through the most remote area in the world.
Their main website is here and through it you can track daily progress. They have a cool feature that let's you replay past stages on a map. You can watch the ships crawl and zig-zag across the map as they make their way. The sailors also offer blog and video posts along the way. You can get a feeling for some of the extreme elements that they face.
They will also sail near Point Nemo, a spot in the Pacific that is further away from any land than anywhere else on the planet. It's the loneliest spot on the globe. The only people that have been further away from the general mass of humanity were the lunar astronauts.
Anyway, good luck racers!
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