Good morning,
It is great to be back out racing. We are especially grateful to the Race Office for their support and their monumental efforts behind the scenes.
We slipped lines yesterday morning and spent a very productive afternoon refreshing our emergency drills and sailing maneuvers. As the moon rose over the dramatic volcanic mountains, the stage was set for the start of Race 9. Skipper Rich on WTC Logistics did a great job corralling all of the 11 excited teams. After negotiating shipping traffic and fishing boats Rich organised a perfect Le Mans start in the dark. We were thankful that we had practiced our evolutions and we had a clean getaway.
Overnight the wind held at around 15-20 knots from the N/NE meaning that we were able to make fast and direct millage along the first leg. We have completed a few spinnaker changes to try and keep Unicef powering. With a complement of 20 crew on this leg, we have plenty of skill and experience which gives us many options. For this race we are also rejoined by an Onboard Reporter called Cherie. Not only is Cherie great company but hopefully she can help us get maximum exposure for Unicef.
After the first night, we find ourselves towards the back of the pack but very much still in contention. I laughed when it was pointed out that we are currently one of the closest boats to the finish. Although true, we have a lot of course marks to navigate first. The next 24hrs are going to be very interesting as the wind is forecast to become light and variable.
Here we go.
Ian and Mike