Race 7 - Day 8
Crew Diary - It’s here! It’s finally here!
02 March

“These boats are made for downwind sailing” they say!

Gone are the doldrums of Race 6 and gone are the wind holes during the first half of Race 6 whilst heading north past the islands of the Philippines, Japan and Taiwan. Gone is the constant beating upwind – we’re now using the strong northerlies to our advantage.

The sea state may still be just at the upper limits of ‘moderate’ but there are definitely some decent waves pushing us along on a reach. It’s hard work at the helm with the wind blowing 30-35 knots (gusting up to 40) but surfing down the waves whilst some of them are breaking is both rewarding and exhilarating. With nothing but the swell in sight, this finally feels like the middle of nowhere ocean. At midnight I can hear Ingo making various noises of nervous excitement as he reaches the high teens on the speedometer down a surf that seems to last forever. He clocks in at 23kts on his best surf. (The computer records a yet unclaimed top speed of 26kts for the evening, which Ryan also awarded to a modest Ingo)

The moon is also back. The nights of Race 7 seem to have been so dark but there she is, almost half full, lighting up the clouds and sea. A good display of bio luminescence is also revealing all of the breakers and lights the bottom of the boom when it dips close to the sea. Water constantly sprays, smashes and streams in from the bow scattering thousands of the tiny glowing particles down our backs and across the cockpit. Ryan proudly informs us that we should turn the lights off whilst flushing the sea water toilets for a florescent show.

At 0127 local time, Dare To Lead, Imagine Your Korea, Zhuhai and ourselves are currently converging towards the Virtual Mark, Massey. It’s a reminder that we’re not alone after all. It’s also time to wake up the other watch so they can share in the delight of a moonlit surfing contest.