Race 13 - Day 6
Crew Diary - Susan Waters crew blog
24 June

Sitting on the foredeck gazing all around me. Flat calm the sea, light blue calm sky, and a calm crew, South American music softly playing.

A contrast to last night. The first race of this leg is over. Second place claimed. A prized pennant will be awarded to us all at the prize giving. It will be treasured.

Vamos Punta!

Yesterday evening was far from calm.

All Punta crew in full fighting mode, full of adrenalin and enthusiasm. The sea air was filled with shouts of Grind, Ease. There were many urgent sail changes as conditions varied over the final 50nm.

Qingdao and WTC Logistics chose to sail a higher course and it paid off. Qingdao pulled away around 7 miles or so. WTC Logistics who had been behind us were now slowly but surely closing the gap. At a rate of around 0.2nm every mile, until we were level with each other and around 25nm to the finish. Ha Long Bay, Viet Nam and Zhuhai were also closing in.

It was absolutely nail biting. Every tweak we could think of was made, any change in trim tried and adjusted. We took turns in the nav station counting down the miles. Nervous energy fizzed in the air.

Then a heroic last session. Such concentration, and effort. It paid off. We managed to claw back the distance WTC Logistics had made, and crossed the line in second place.

Vamos!

It was a time of celebration. Much hugging, high fives, smiles and cheers. We had tried so hard. Worked our way through the fleet. Lead the race some of the time, and had such an exciting luffing battle with Qingdao. A battler we will never forget.

After crossing the finish line late evening, we stayed in the area overnight as a few other yachts finished. We lowered and stored our sails. Waiting for the morning when we could make our way to New York and enter the marina.

Right now it is 11.09, we have all been working hard to deep clean our wonderful home Punta del Este. We have raised our banners and flags, and are now motoring up the Hudson with around three hours before we reach New York.

It is sunny, beautiful, the sound of our kind South American crew mates filling the air, alongside the Spanish, German, American, Scottish, Welsh and English accents.

A content crew, we hope our supporters enjoyed watching our fight to the very end, never giving up.

Vamos Punta. Vamos!