Top wind speed of last night: 60 knots! Top boat speed: 23 knots! Huge. We are absolutely sending it round Tassy and it was a beautiful bid farewell to the Southern latitudes. The crew noted that yesterday was some of their favourite sailing in the whole race yet, I have to agree. The swell angle was perfect, with the waves often breaking at a beautiful 90-degree angle onto our stern, sending us zooming down the crest on an occasional bar-straight course. It is an immense feeling of power to watch the bow dip, the waves crash on either side and to feel the boat lurch forward as it enters the surf, a feeling that only served justice through experience. It isn’t all smooth surfing though, one late move on the wheel, and the ferocious power of the wave scoops you up, placing the boat into an almost unmovable broach, with the sails flapping, rig vibrating and the boat up on its side. You feel it everywhere onboard, even the metal frames of the bunks move with the rig, causing
those in slumber to shiver at the thought of the broach going on deck. The calm is only restored when the helm finally regains control of the bow, and the whole boat relaxes, sails filling, rig remaining still, and a sense of relief fills every fibre of us and the boat. Tactically the next few days of sailing are very important, get the right side of the wind hole and you're moving, but what about the East Australian current, with up to 4 knots of south-going current pushing you farther away from Newwie if you time it wrong. Dan and I have both been studying, running Timezero routes, and debating. We always both come up with our plan independently, and in a dragon's den style pitch, compare the two to see which is best, or if we have missed any crucial details. This decision was hard, we have made our choice, but either option had the potential for fleet gains and losses, only time will tell if the dragons want to invest in the success of UNICEF, or if we have stuffed our presentations, and opted for the wrong choice...
Laura, Dan, and the UNICEF Team