DOWNWIND was the first of three oceanographic expeditions comprising one phase of the University of California's deep-sea participation in the International Geophysical Year.  DOWNWIND ranged from the Central Pacific to the South American coast, and from the equatorial regions to nearly 50° South latitude (Fig. 1). The name was appropriate, because over most of the track, running counterclockwise in the Southeast Pacific, meteorological conditions made for following winds and currents.