And we are off! After a truly amazing stopover in Punta, we are now on our way to Cape Town. We all got some rest, some great food, and an incredible welcome from the people of the city.
They truly set a standard for stopovers. And now we are ready again. A 3,600nm trip coming up that traditionally promises strong winds and cold weather. But for now, we are cruising along nicely in 15knots of wind, not exactly in the right direction. But that is sailing for you. At least this way we can ease into a bit. Especially for Ben, Hamish, Stephanie, Jeroen, Gabrielle, Steve, and Pappy, who joined us in Punta. Hopefully the transition to ocean racers won't be too tough.
The start today was an interesting one. all of us were set up for a slow downwind start under Spinnaker. But, as the ten-minute signal went, the wind all of a sudden turned 180 degrees, making it a close-hauled upwind start. Probably easier and faster, but it did create ten minutes of chaos, where crew were scrambling around the decks to get codes down and Yankees up, while skippers were rushing from one end of the line to the other to find the best position and angle. We opted for the middle of the line with some free wind. I think we did ok out of it, but we will see when the first position reports come in.
Ineke and some excited seadogs.