Hello Qingers!
Welcome back to the Atlantic. Today's story time includes splits in the fleet, spinnakers and sail changes.
However, firstly... A huge congratulations to our round the worlders, all of whom started on Qingdao remain on their full circumnavigation of this little planet of ours. We are now more east than Punta del Este, Uruguay so completing a full 360 degrees. Lots of people have sailed around the world but relatively few have raced around. A great achievement and one which will stay with them for the rest of their lives. They are now members of quite a small club.
Back to the race in hand.
We have had some good close competition with UNICEF over the last day and it has added to the spirit on board to have them so close to push harder to try to get ahead.
If you’ve been watching the Race Viewer, you’ll see that half the fleet have headed south in search of the Gulf Stream to take advantage of the currents that start off in the Caribbean and head off across the Atlantic. This adds some miles to the course but the current pushes you further and faster. Those who have stayed north have opted for the shorter route to the end of the ice limits in the hope that the less miles will make up for the lack of current.
Roll the dice and place your bets!
We have had some absolutely great sailing, with last night and this morning being particularly nice. With over thirty knots of wind for a good few hours, we were able to fly along in the darkness under Code 2 spinnaker, the mid-sized one, with speeds into the mid-twenties. This went on for some time until we had to hoist our Code 3, the smallest. Well, it was a bit frisky! With the smallest spinnaker we were still able to make speeds into the mid 20s until we had to drop it and change to white sails as the wind had shifted.
Since the change to white sails, we have been sailing along at a slower pace but still nice sailing waiting to see if the forecast is correct, and opting for a slightly different course to keep our speeds up a bit until we hope to be able to hoist our spinnaker again. Maybe tomorrow sometime.
We may even get to sail over the Titanic as its resting place lies along our course.
Keep your eyes peeled to see how it all pans out.
That's about it so far.
Talk soon.
Love to those at home,
Phil, Henry and the dragon riders