Day 12? Crazy to think we are that far in and 2272nm along the track. Race wise, the past two days have been very changing. We struggled in the messy sea state and confused wind left lingering by the low pressure. Yesterday, we managed to do ten evolutions in a morning, I think a record for us. From full Main to reef 3, all the way back, followed by three headsail changes and a spinnaker hoist.
It was insanely frustrating, with the wind constantly shifting and changing speed, making it challenging to keep up with the right sail plan, or get the boat into any kind of groove. The team worked phenomenally, pushing on through our many sail change requests, often getting drenched in the process. Finally, yesterday afternoon, we found the groove. Spinnaker up, nice angle, and despite a still very confused sea state (downwind, up swell), we were finally heading 10 knots in the right direction.
Last night began a saga we did not expect this far out at sea: fishing net dodging. Having fishing net targets on AIS was an unwelcome surprise after our month-long escapade in the South China Sea.
The two boats ahead of us had to significantly adjust course to avoid them, losing their 20+nm lead they had in the process. Sorry guys, particularly Perseverance who seem to have upset the fishing gods on this race and have been hindered twice by fishing. However, after the different routes and large splits, we now have a southern pack, which is exciting as we are able to push one another on to hopefully challenge the northern lads. It could go either way depending on how the next systems roll, and whether the allure of points at the Scoring Gate takes any of us off the beaten track. Only time will tell. The best plus is, it’s still pretty good temperatures down here and mid layers remain packed away, a relief to all of us after a bitter cold start in Qingdao.
Bravo Zulu!
Laura, Dan and UNICEF bois