Race 2 - Day 1
Skipper Report
16 September

What an amazing send off from the people of Portimão!

It was a beautiful day as we made our way out of the marina and began our parade of sail up the river, in front of the town. The hospitality of the marina was fantastic and we are sure to miss it!

Conditions out in the bay were pleasant with a gentle south-west wind for us to start in. We went for a rather conservative start initially under main and yankee only as we sailed the short triangular leg of the race off the beach. Coming to the last mark of the triangle we hardened up in the direction of Uruguay, over 5000 miles away.

Our biggest supporter, Lee, gave a final cheer from one of the spectator boats, as only she knows how!

Tucked away at the back of the fleet, we tacked to get some clear air and then took a chance on holding the sea breeze as far as Lagos, before tacking back again. A bit of a flyer, separating us from the rest of the fleet, but I was keen to be on the west anyway as part of our longer term strategy. Let's see how it works out!

The sailing overnight was very pleasant under a bright moon, with a breeze that veered slowly from south-west to north, and by morning we were ready to hoist a spinnaker. First drama of the leg was hoisting the kite with a bowline on the sheet where the "rabbit apparently got lost coming out of the hole and around the tree". A bit unfortunate, but at least the spinnaker is still in one piece.

We have Callum Leach on the helm at the moment. One of our star helms, he had been a Watch Leader on Race 1 but now he has been paired with Robbie Worthington to try and balance out that watch. With Robbie as Watch Leader, backed up by Callum as the Watch Instructor/ Coach/ Mentor, we hope to develop skills on this watch more quickly.

Cheers

Nick