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Resolute of Thames - THE HUNGER GAMES AND WHISTLING FOR THE WIND



Those readers who know us well and, if I flatter myself by believing that there are some people who are either reading this out of idle curiosity or because they are looking forward to ARC 2014, will I am sure have already concluded that we take it in turns to craft the words. Generally speaking Gilly-mate does the superlatives whilst I stick to the factual.

So factually, we continue to make some westward progress in what is best described as light airs which fortunately are of a northerly nature. The wind machine is currently producing NE Force 1. We have set the hydrovane to max power, put the wind just forward of the beam and other than occasionally trimming the sails we have pretty much left the boat to get on with it. The course over the ground is anything from 230 to 300 degrees. This in coastal or even offshore sailing would be something of an anathema - busy crews would be constantly tweaking sails to try and get the boat moving that little bit faster in a direction that was say within at least 10 degrees of the destination. Out here, with 1200 nautical miles or so go to St Lucia and boat speed at anything from 0.5 to 3 and a bit knots, I am not sure that the amount of effort required would give us any meaningful return. So currently our aim is to keep the boat moving in a generally westerly direction and wait for some more wind. Strangely this is not in the least frustrating - sitting off Cowes 500 meters from the finishing line for hours whilst others enjoy a pint in the clubhouse is frustrating. However, this is a rally and those boats ahead of us, who cruelly appear to currently have more wind, will I am sure be a source of some jealousy as their status changes from "at sea" in a few days time. I shall simply stop reading the daily position reports provided by Rally Control!

From our perspective the Yellow Brick concept and the reports it generates has parallels with the Hunger Games (the trilogy of futuristic books - and a film - by Suzanne Collins which imagines a vast sadistically controlled Big Brother-ish scenario which the whole nation follows every year and watches as their regional heroes fight to get to the end of the ordeals sent to try them). The Atlantic is our arena and each of the boats a participant. When we followed several boats during ARC 12 this never occurred to us - but knowing now that we are a green dot on at least 4 i-phones and getting missives telling us how we are falling back down the fleet or asking why we have suddenly shot off to the south is really quite surreal. You, dear reader, know far more about what the other boats are doing than we do. Rest assured we need no gifts(permitted when things got tough in the Hunger Games) but if you could ask the Gamemakers in Rally Control to turn the wind machine up 2 notches (no more) we would be grateful. Otherwise we may be reduced to using the traditional sailors method of summoning the wind ie by whistling a tune and this, experience tells me, normally produces wind that makes the last 500m more difficult, very uncomfortable and with a finishing time some 5 minutes after the bar has closed. You must understand my dilemma, whilst I am really enjoying bobbing about in the ocean if Cinderella does not get to the closing ceremony I (and you) will never hear the last of it!




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