After three days at sea, Great American II, the 53-foot trimaran aiming to break a clipper ship record from Hong Kong to New York, is positioned some 500 miles south of Hong Kong in a position 500 miles behind the progress logged by Sea Witch.

For American sailing adventurers Rich Wilson (Rockport, Mass.) and Rich du Moulin (Larchmont, NY), who set out from Hong Kong on Sunday, March 16, the first days of their offshore campaign have been marked by light, variable winds.

The duo is sailing 15,000 miles non-stop to New York to chase a 154-year-old sailing record and bring a live adventure to thousands of school children through a unique educational programme – sitesALIVE.

Weather has been the ruling factor. According to Michael Gilchrist of Commanders Weather, the Nashua (New Hampshire) company that is providing weather routing to the boat, October to April is the prime time to transit this region, as the north-east monsoons typically dominate the wind patterns. “We hit the start line like an America’s Cup yacht, and we were off,” said skipper Wilson, of the start on Sunday. “But twenty tacks later out the narrow south-east approach, we were becalmed for an agonising two hours.” Winds have been generally light and variable in direction for Wilson, 52, and du Moulin, 56. A trough of low pressure south of China has brought squalls to the area and generally disturbed the seasonal weather patterns.