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EH01 - Living life on an angle...



Hello All!

Day 6... A trickier nights sailing last night. The forecast had suggested
the wind going aft yesterday evening but it still had not appeared. We spent
most of the night with the wind on the beam until the early hours when the
wind seemed to die completely. We spent a few hours frantically trimming
with the worry that it might just be us who are stuck in a hole... We have
worked so hard over the last couple of days to keep our VMG up so we can
keep chasing down the top boats that just stopping for a few hours is fairly
gutting!! Just as it started to get lighter we started to feel the faintest
of breezes starting to fill in from the north east. We were quick to hoist
our spinnaker and started sailing away at what felt like a rapid 4-5 knots.
Whilst myself and the crew were arranging the foredeck we were joined by a
large pod of dolphins which was quite a nice distraction from bobbing
around. Its just a shame they can't pull us along!! Thankfully as the sun
rose over the horizon a solid 10-15 knots of wind appeared and we have been
sailing along all day at 9-10 knots.

As I am writing this another boat has just appeared on the horizon, we
believe it to be Maline (another yacht in our class). Its amazing how the
crew jumps up a few gears when we have someone to chase. The EH01 race
machine is in full swing now and working well 24 hours a day! The forecast
is set for a few days of fast sailing under spinnaker running with the wind
on our quarter. We are still hoping we can crack into the top 5 overall and
possibly a podium in class (wishful thinking). It feels that this race is
now turning into a drag race into St Lucia and the winners will be the crews
who are willing to push themselves and their yachts the hardest. We will be
looking to strike a balance between the two as we are very aware we still
have over 1500 miles of racing to go. To break the crew or the boat at this
stage would be disastrous!

Myself and the crew are also very aware that our navigation software is
telling us we could be in St Lucia in just under 8 days. To complete this
crossing in 14 days would be a great achievement and I think the incentive
of that first rum punch when we hit land is making the crew work faster!

Aside from the sailing... As always the atmosphere on board is fantastic.
The crew are enjoying the sunshine and the music whilst blasting across the
Atlantic. Karen has pretty much turned into our designated crew chef
creating some fantastic meals in our limited galley. Its my turn to cook
this evening so I shall be rustling up a carefully prepared boil in the bag
meal...

That's all for now... and anyway I have boat to chase down!!!!


Nick and crew

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