Our watch, the Pacific, came on at noon. With about 47 nautical miles to the Finish Line, a decent breeze filling the Code 1 and 8-9 knots of boat speed, we were excited by the fact that we might reach the Finish Line before the watch change at 6pm. But the weather Gods had other ideas. The wind slowly died throughout the afternoon, to the point that just before changing watches, we doused the Code 1 and hoisted the Windseeker.
While the Pacific watch was free to get some well deserved sleep as the new watch came on, there was just too much excitement for most of us to leave the deck. We helped pack the Code 1 and then settled down on the low side by the shrouds with the rest of the crew to await the final crossing of the Finish Line, roughly 3,000 miles from where we started.
As we glided along in calm seas, we were graced with a spectacular moon rise. A giant orange ball emerging from the ocean on the horizon, lifting into the sky to light up our evening. The only other lights on deck were those of a few smartphones running apps to monitor our speed from the shrouds. A ‘race to the finish’ this did not seem, except for the fact that we knew from the last scheds that Yacht Club Punta del Este, about 200 miles away and hugging the coastline, was our invisible competitor for 3rd place and a spot on the podium in DC. We knew their distance from the Finish Line based on the last sched, but not its boat speed, so we focused on getting our best performance in this last handful of miles.
Eventually, the helm started the count down: 2 miles, 1 mile, half a mile, Fnish Line! Cheers erupted, the PSP Logistics song blasted and thanks to Trevor, we all lit up glow sticks. The boat instantly had a party atmosphere, which was met with disdain from the dozen boobies who had set up camp on the bow sprit looking for some quiet rest. The celebration went up a notch when Mark appeared from below with freshly baked brownies. In the dark, we could make out that the brownies were inscribed with something using M&Ms. We asked Mark what it said, and after he confirmed that none of us could read Braille, he stated “Congratulations PSP on a 3rd place finish. Amazing job everyone. On, On!” Seems Mark is not only the master of sail repair, but of writing in M&Ms.