Hello and goodbye Terricolas, soon we’ll be there!
The last couple of days have been difficult. We did hopefully our last upwind of the race, we rigged our Yankee 2 before dropping the Windseeker as we knew the wind was going to pick up sharp after that massive wind hole, and it paid off. We managed to catch up with the fleet and get back in the game.
Unfortunately, there was a moment when we caught something in the rudders and we couldn’t helm and lost speed; but we had to, the GoPro went underwater, and we managed to get free from whatever was there. How nice is that when you stop like that, our friends from Dare To Lead called us to ask if we were alright. We love you guys, and that fleet spirit is something amazing the Clipper Race has.
We kept battling all day, rounding the south mark of Ireland. The wind was strong and forward of the beam when we saw Dare To Lead bravely hoisting their Code 3 spinnaker; my respect to them for doing that in those conditions. We rounded southern Ireland and after a bit when the wind shifted a bit more aft, we hoisted our Code 2 and we’ve been sailing under her since last night. At first, it was tight, hard with no visibility, and an annoying drizzle, wet and cold. Just miserable Celtic Sea weather. After rounding Fastnet mark, we decided to stay more offshore to keep the speed. It worked, but once we got into the Scilly Isles and we had to gybe, we lost the wind for two hours and Our Isles and Oceans that was 5nm ahead is now 9nm! What a shame! We are now trying another attack, going east first so we can drive higher and faster after we gybe to see if something works! Luck is not on our side for sure, but we won’t stop fighting. It’s nice to be back in the UK waters. The crew loves the last of everything: the last upwind, the last headsail change, the last peeling, and every time we do something we know (think!) we won’t do it again; they all clap their hands saying the last this and that.
So, this is the end of my blog. I have to admit that many times I was really tired and didn’t want to write, but lots of people in the stopovers around the globe told me they really enjoy my blogs and that kept me going a lot. Looking back now I see now the importance of doing these blogs, and it’s cool as now I kind of have a book to edit. Thank you all for your support throughout the race and it’s been a very nice hard adventure that we've enjoyed a lot. The crew and I are looking forward to more adventures (of a different kind) but for sure this has been the best adventure we’ve had so far.
Nano, Angus and the Punta Riders