Race 13 - Day 8
Crew Diary - Crew Diary: Race 13 Day 8
07 July
Peel. Drop. Teddybear. Wool.
Peel. Drop. Teddybear. Wool.
Peel. Drop. Teddybear. Wool.
Peel. Drop. Teddybear. Wool.
These are four of my favourite words.
Well, we’re now eight days into the race and things have begun to heat up again as the lead moves back and forth between various vessels and the rhum line to the finish line. What the rhum line fails totake into account, however, are the various winds and currents away from the ‘fastest route’which can potentially mean other routes are faster. Some may have been wondering why Ha Long Bay Viet Namtook a more southerly path, and that is because the race viewer shows the winds but not the currents and Ha Long Bay Viet Nam was looking to take advantage of the Gulf Stream, a current which was offering up to four knots at various points, however there were some occasions where the forecast advantageous current actually ended up being a 3 knot head current.
With Joker Cards at play, some uncertain weather forecasts and a number of competitive boats near the front, it will be interesting to see the tactics of boats as they near the scoring gate and ocean sprint, which can both award additional points, but make the actual race to the finish line longer.
Despite the forecast at race start, to the contrary, the race has primarily been upwind, with the more pleasant downwind sailing taking place over the past 24 hours. Downwind is generally preferred as the vessels go faster, the apparent wind is much lower (as you’re going with the wind rather than against it), the boat heels much less (maybe 20%, instead of the 40-45% experienced with upwind sailing) and the sailing is generally muchsmoother. These improvements make life below deck much more fun.
Aside from a squall or two, the weather above deck has been warm and pleasant. I’d never imagined at these latitudes, in the middle of the Atlantic ocean that the water temperature would be 34 deg C, the air temperature still remaining above 30 deg C (which means the below deck temp is in the high 30’s and currently 88% relative humidity and this is near the companionway…..it is most certainly warmer in the sleeping areas. In fact, eight days into the race and my thermals are unused, sleeping bag remains redundant and my only two shirts are fetid (and this adjective is being kind!).
In terms of wildlife, we’ve seen a number of dolphin pods swim alongside the boat for a minute or two before disappearing into the nether. This morning, we were lucky enough to see some whales breaching at a distance of about300m, and the ominous Portuguese Man-o-Wars continue to bob by quite frequently. No need to worry about them, as there is no time for a swim when the race is so close.