Hi all from a wet and cold Dare To Lead,
Yes, it is very wet on board as it hasn't stopped raining for about 48 hours now. Temperature has also lowered making for some chilly nights as could be expected in the North Pacific! We have limited crew on deck once the sails are set whilst the rest warm up down below in the galley area with some popular noodle soups or general tea, coffee or hot chocolate. With that said it has still been fairly busy requiring most crew to help with jobs changing sails mainly.
Progress wise, it's been extremely frustrating the past two days or so. I felt we chose the best routing to the Scoring Gate or to pass below the gate and continue without the additional points, both options worked for this route. The biggest and most important part was falling off a high-pressure system and joining onto a low-pressure system, this hasn't happened and every time we get close to the transition between the two systems it changes, and we are forced to continue with the high north. In the meantime, the northern boats will get a nice high line above the Scoring Gate, making good progress finally, and the southern boats are flying along with downwind conditions on course, with us stuck in the middle. It could likely turn out we fall to the back of the fleet and will need to chase everyone the second half of the race.
Could we at least get a point or two from the Scoring Gate? Will we battle it out with PSP Logistics for the two points or will Zhuhai pull a sneaky move and head down to the gate? Keep watching the Race Viewer to find out...
Bye for now,
Ryan, Charlie and our hardworking but also frustrated crew of Dare To Lead