Week 1 Strategy: south, safety, sustainability.
We end up turning south at least every day. Hundred mile step here, short step there, attempting to inch our way west of south while carrying our asymmetric kites as deep as they and the sea will allow us.
Safety and sustainability have also been our strategy. The last two nights we ran the genny instead of our mast head kites. One reason was the sloppy sea state and dark nights, another was just to give the crew a break. Last time we had BWB up at night, it was a hot mess, so we ran a more forgiving headsail. But early this morning, at around 0400, the breeze dropped below 15 knots and we couldn't (and wouldn't) wait until sunrise to put up Mustang Spinny. Light air is forecasted for the rest of the day, so up she'll stay.
We've also put an upper limit on Mustang Spinny. It's our biggest kite, and we've had her up in 20+, even with a reef in. But we have to be smart and save our light air kite for when we might really need it. Flashbacks from our last Transatlantic race tell us this is a good strategy.
With all of our steps south, we've sailed a lot of miles but aren't exactly half way there yet. So we are playing it smart, watching the scheds, and making sure we are matching or surpassing the fleet. Now we are on our gybe West for a few days, and can often make course to St Lucia if the boys weren't sailing so hot and fast!
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