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Cleone - CLEONE Leg 24 Day 11 - Head Winds



Gentlemen don't go to windward.
 
Apparently.  But if that is the case, how on earth do gentlemen get back to Cowes, where of course they all start from (the Royal Yacht Squadron, obviously) in the first place?  Putting that thought aside (as if, and anyway, these days there are lots of answers, eg a gentleman's helicopter or his friend's Sunseeker (NO.  Gentlemen do not have friends who own Sunseekers - Ed), it is a fact that we have probably only had to go to windward on this world cruise for less than ten percent of the distance we have sailed.  So the last day or so has been a little bit disconcerting, not to mention slightly uncomfortable!
 
Inevitably, Bruce predicted that all this would come to pass.  After a "soft" morning, the wind backed around to the north and freshened.  Soon Cleone was running just below close-hauled, under a doubled reefed genoa and main, with a single reef in the mizzen.  Cleone's rig is beautifully balanced under these conditions and she steered herself without resorting to the autopilot.  We were still making headway down the rhumb line, but as the day wore on, the current first became neutral, and then started to flow to the south.  For the last fourteen hours we have been pushed below our course, and it has been a bouncy ride to boot.  Luckily the wind strength has remained at eighteen knots or so, so we have been able to generate the power to push through the waves, rather than being stopped by them, as has happened in the past.  We have made better progress than our lighter-weight friends, who prosper in down-wind or light-air conditions but whose motion is much more violent and tiring in heavier seas and airs.  A total of 149 miles noon-to-noon is not one to be ashamed of.  It leaves us with 260 or so miles to run, so we are still on target for a Wednesday arrival in Scarborough, Tobago.
 
Meanwhile, all is well with us, and very best wishes to you all.

James, Paul and Volker

Yacht Cleone
08o58'N 56o53'W



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