It’s been a fantastic Atlantic crossing. Starting off with some sunny Gulf Stream boosted downwind sailing, before we cleared the ice limit, got second on the Scoring Gate and then the fleet split. Different routing options were taken to navigate around the high pressure (windhole) that has been closing in on the cost of Ireland and Scotland over the past week. This last 1,000nm has been really exciting watching the differing tactics play out. Sometimes making miles, sometimes losing out. Although our “flyer” didn’t slingshot us miles into the lead in the end like we were hoping. We are happy we gave it a try and managed to sail to the plan all the way in.
There has been some lovely up wind sailing (yes, I did say lovely and up wind in the same sentence) the sea has been flat, so no slamming, and the wind, although not consistent in direction or strength, never got to the point where we needed to do a head sail change. The whole crew has been helming brilliantly, keeping up with the shifts and diligently retrimming on each change despite the fact that we have no other boats around to spur us on. Now we enter the final 200nm, and the drag race is back as the fleet compresses into the Firth of Lorn. There could still be some changes in positions in these final miles. It’s still all to play for!
Dan, Laura and a happy UNICEF crew