Sunday 20th November
We enjoyed a tremendous send off from Las Palmas. The ARC team were at the entrance to the harbour cheering us all on our way, along with hundreds of other people, perched on the rocks on the harbour wall. Rousing music was transmitted over loudspeakers; the atmosphere was amazing. There were a few nerves around this morning but not nearly as many as expected; we were all just caught up in the excitement of the occasion. The fleet en masse was a glorious sight; we feel very privileged to have both the equipment and the ability to make this passage.
David made a cautious start and we were a few minutes late over the start line but what the hell, we have the best part of three weeks to go. We have heard of one boat in the racing division which collided on the start and is
now back in Las Palmas looking for repairs.
It is a fairly gentle start, 10 kts or so of wind and 5 to 6 kts of boat speed, but we expect to speed up soon. We are holding our own very well and have certainly caught and passed a fair few boats. Good to see plenty of
spinnakers behind us!!
Atmospheric times
David
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