Race 13 - Day 13
Crew Diary - Crew Diary: Race 13
09 July

Greetings from SV Bekezela CV22

Tomorrow is Tuesday and we will be two weeks since leaving Washington, D.C. Washington was an excellent stopover. The city and DC Events team really made a great effort to make us feel welcome and there was a carnival atmosphere down at the Wharf with live music and events.I made the most of our location - within walking distance of all the main monuments and attractions.

We departed with much fanfare as we paraded from the stage to our boats. The Parade of Sail and fireworks were impressive as crowds cheered us on from the shore, and then we were gone, off our adventure across the North Atlantic. Having watched possibly every Clipper Race YouTube video since signing up, my expectation was for big rolling seas and high winds. There was certainly a mixture of excitement and some nerves as Mark Light, the Race Director, and Sir Robin had certainly set the scene at the Race Briefing as to what the North Atlantic was capable of serving up.

The initial forecast looked very favourable with a big Atlantic high looking quite settled which was dominating conditions. The first day and half had us beating upwind across the gulf stream with wind over tide making conditions below deck challenging. The next week and half, we were able to sail almost along the rhumb line at 070 degrees (the bearing for Oban). The call from below for a course to record in the log became, “Oban + 5” or “Oban + 10” or the like - which translated into impressive VMG with our best day at 267 nm. It was looking like we might arrive early, and the discussion was whether we would get a race extension.

Then, as can expected, the weather became a lot more variable with large wind holes appearing almost in every direction and changing with each update. We decided the best course was to stay as close to the rhumb line as possible until a clearer picture emerged. 12 days in, we spent a frustrating day lolling about watching the burgee circling. Skipper David indicated that a late arrival into Oban was looking more and more likely. Just when I got into my bunk the boat heeled and we were on our way again. With circa one week to our expected arrival window, we are now tracking north of the rhumb line at 10 knots so as to avoid a massive wind hole - hoping to continue along the top of the high and follow it around into Oban.

Still a lot to play for and hopefully our share of misfortunes with blown kites and wind holes are behind us. Our spirits remainhigh, and all hands are enjoying the experience.