Race 2 - Day 5
Skipper Report
20 September

Hi all,

Another cracking day under Code 2 Spinnaker. The wind has picked up a little since we’ve cleared the Canaries which has given us some surfs up to 15/16 knots, always followed by some whooping from on deck. It is great to see the crew all getting excited about sailing fast! Not only have we been sailing fast but the crew have been nailing these gybes, pulling them off without a hitch, people even getting up from their 8 hours of sleep to help (now that's teamwork).

It was all going well, the wind increased so we made the decision to downsize from the Code 2 Spinnaker to the Code 3 which went seamlessly. Then it happened, just as the Code 3 had gone up, it was soon to come back down. I could hear the helm struggling a little bit so popped my head out of the hatch and that’s when I saw the hole, from head to foot right done one of the seems… our Code 3 was done for. Anyway down it came and up the Yankee 1 went, now I’m hoping for the breeze to lighten off a bit so we can get the Code 2 back up.

Barry and his sail repair team have some work to do.

Log of the day: ‘Fresh coffee pot goes flying when boat lurches’.

Until tomorrow,

Seumas