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Cleone - CLEONE Leg 24 Day 1 - A Star is Born



Maiden Flight for New Kite.
 
For nearly a week now, it has lain dormant, primly clothed in its snuffer, and smouldering inside its magnificent new Turtle.  For the first few days, it shared the skipper's bunk.  But then it had to fend for itself, stuffed into the sail locker along with all the other smelly old sails.  But today, at long last, the new Spinnaker flew for the first time.  Squalls predominated last night, with bursts of heavy rain.  Today, towards the end of the morning, the Skipper finally accepted that the wind was steady enough, and the decision was made to fly the kite.  Reverently, the Turtle was eased from its lair below deck, and soon Paul and the Skipper were ready on the foredeck, with Volker concentrating for all he was worth at the helm.  "Hoist!" came the order, and the kite sped up the masts, clothed only in its snuffer.  Then the critical moment; the Skipper lumbered back to the cock-pit, and Paul heaved mightily on the sunffer line.  Woof; the new kite was full of wind, and drawing lustily, with the skipper shouting urgently at himself to trim the sheet and the guy properly.  Unfortunately, all these efforts proved to be in vain, as the wind simply died.  After a few minutes the snuffer line had to be used once more to draw the snuffer (led by its wonderful Carbon Fibre bow-shaped mouth) carefull down over the the blue-edged, white bodied marvel.  It was extinguished, and there was nothing left but a memory.  However, it gave us a chance to see that all looks promising with the new kite.  It has broad shoulders, is silky smooth, and to cap it all, it has not only our Sail Number on it, but also CLEONE in big black letters.  So they will all know who's overtaking them!
 
Apart from that, as indicated, it has been a diffiicult start.  Bruce's promised lulls and squalls appeared in full, and we have had everything from over 30 knots of wind to a flat calm.  Since leaving yesterday afternoon, we ahve made just over 100 miles north from Recife.  It is going to be a long trip, but we are all determined to make the most of this last leg.  We are all feeling exhausted after our dirty carnival week, but it is wonderful to be at sea again.
 
Meanwhile, all is well with us, and very best wishes to you all.
 
James, Paul and Volker
Yacht Cleone
06o11'S 34o28'W



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