Hello.
So, this famously downwind race has, to the utter relief of the crew, and Ella and I for that matter, has finally turned downwind. The first few days were the opposite with the crescendo being a night of 30+ knots bang on the nose. For anyone used to sailing Clipper 70s it felt rough, but the poor joiners were all rather wide eyed with green faces, and I’m sure wondering what on earth they signed up for.
Thankfully, as promised, the front went over, and we have now started our downwind run. We had a lovely morning sailing our Code 2 but with the wind expected to increase, we decided to primitively change to the Code 3. A speedy and efficient change was done, a great team effort. But once hoisted the Code 3 looked suspiciously like the Code 1. Upon further inspection looking at the lack of branding (a feature only on the Code 1) and the big block letter saying C1, we realised that it was in fact the Code 1. So, despite the speed (and it was very speedy) having the Code 1 in 27, soon to be more, knots of breeze certainly wasn’t the plan. Fortunately, everyone was very versed in drops and hoists, so another speedy and efficient change was made. Once done we had a little giggle at the mistake, thankful it was an early change, and we didn’t hoist the Code 1 in the 32kts of breeze that we saw about half an hour after the Code 3 was flying.
As we continued our afternoon, the wind continued to build so much that it became too much for the Code3,andsadly that wasn’t a decision we made. The Code ripped pretty substantially. We got it down and triage is being done by Olly and Vasi. The rip is pretty big, but the damage is not to any of the edges, so although it may take a while to fix, it is certainly do-able onboard. Frustrating as it is I suppose it isn’t that surprising as these sails have seen a fair amount of abuse over the last eight months and they’re not as strong as they once were. It's a shame but as we go south the wind gets lighter and lighter so the need for a Code 3 becomes less and less.
Before I finish, I just want to wish the biggest congratulations to the Vaughan-Jones family for their two tiny new members.
All the best Hannah, Ella and the Washington, DC Crew