Race 13 - Day 3
Crew Diary - ​Every wind hole also has a silver lining…
21 June

Back again for more life on the lean. The boat hasn’t changed much after two years of pandemic, and neither have the crew. All a little bit older (and in my case, now needing reading glasses to fill in the log). But the same at heart, lots of big personalities pulling together and looking after one another.

As we waved goodbye to the very lovely Bermuda, the race began. All boats in a line for a Le Mans Start, we raced for 15 mins under the same sailplan and then…poof, each boat changed sails and dispersed in different directions. Within just a couple of hours, we were pretty much on our own. The other CVs were little white dots on the horizon all around us. When all you see around is the ocean, it’s tricky to work out which white dot is going in what direction, who is in front, who is at the back, where is the racing line and even where is NY?! Thank goodness for the chart plotter.

It’s fun and social to race as a matched fleet but when the others are so close by and possibly going faster, it’s hard to stick to your own plan and not go chasing their wind. Josh is thankfully not so easily enticed and here we are, slowly racing our own line and watching out for gusts and lulls.

So, whilst we sail on our Code 1 spinnaker (biggest, tennis court size sail for light winds), the boat is flat. I am on Mother Watch, cooking for 18, so my silver lining is that gravity is in the correct place, no need to climb or crawl up a mountain to access our provisions, which are often hidden under floorboards, bunks and other hidey holes all around the boat. So, if the weather gods are listening, some fast wind at about 6pm, when I stop cooking, would be perfect timing to get us to NY quickly please.