Well what an ocean we are having. The last several days have probably been some of the fastest averages we have done on the entire circumnavigation. Continuously hitting 11, 12, 13 and at one point 14.4kt averages over 6 hours. It’s been extremely rewarding sailing, going from being 40nm behind the entire fleet to now right in the middle, elbows out and jostling for positions. The crew have been fantastic and more motivated than ever, working hard as we switch from code to white sails to code to different code, trying to make the most of the breeze. We’ve been sailing so fast that we finally broke the 300nm in a day mark. That’s been a goal of ours since we started this jaunt round the globe so to see 302.5nm in 24 hours was a boost to our already high morale.
If only it could last, we’d be in Oban sipping Whiskey within a week. However, that would all be too cruisey for Clipper. Someone has spoken to the weather gods and looks like our outrageous averages are already slowing down. For the past few days we’ve had lovely consistent breeze created by a high-pressure sitting south east of us. However we have been chased by a front, the forecast shows the front barging into the high pressure and to quote weather man Rowelly, “this might cause bit of synoptic chaos”. Yay.
With the fleet pretty close even after a week of racing there are many gains and losses to be had, and even more so if the weather becomes unpredictable (synoptic chaos). Will we keep trickling towards the leaders, or will we fall right back? With us anything could happen. So, it might be the end of our wonderful champagne sailing but I’m sure it’ll all be great tracker watching for our armchair racers.
That’s all from me. Hannah, Ella and the Washington, DC Crew.