Good morning, and welcome back on board Unicef.
Yesterday saw the fleet depart Cape Town towards Australia- aka ‘the other side of the world’!!!
We are feeling good about this race. We have a well prepared boat, well practiced routines, high standards and a team dynamic that makes life enjoyable for everyone.
We knew the short in-port race was going to be lively. Throughout the week we had watched as Table Mountain get enveloped in cloud. This cloud had signaled a mad dash to drop our flags and banners as the SE wind began to scream through our rigging. Yesterday, after a flying start we opted for a conservative departure, and followed the fleet out of the bay. We then had to drop our mainsail a few times in order to replace some fibreglass rods that stiffen the sail (battens). This cost us a few more miles but was worth doing in day light and relatively flat seas. Our mainsail is our engine so it must be looked after.
Overnight, we settled back in to life at sea. In spite of our preparations, the short choppy sea state caught a lot of the crew off guard. Seasickness has taken its toll but will hopefully only be short lived as the wind is forecast to gradually come behind us over the next 12hrs. On the last race from Punta Del Este, one of our crew members lost some weight due to seasickness! I heard of a competition on another yacht to see who could gain the most weight during the Cape Town stopover, but I am unsure of the results.
Australia, here we go.
Ian and Mike.