Kelpie - Tuesday 4 December 2018

> 15:30.3N 49:10.9W
>
> So today is St Barbara's Day. For those people unfortunate enough not to
> be Gunners, she is The Gunners' patron saint and her day is always
> commemorated in a somber, sober memorial service. Yeah right! The two
> Gunners on board have been thinking wistfully about the monstrous piss up
> we are missing!
>
> We are clinging onto our top-three position; the race seems to have split
> into two groups, being the front three and the rest. The front three are
> two big, fast boats and little old Kelpie (who is gamely keeping up with
> them) and we are stretching away from the rest. Today we passed the 1500
> mile waypoint so we are now 5/7th of the way. We have learnt how to sail
> Kelpie conservatively but fast; for fellow sailors we are goose-winged
> with 2 reefs in the main and one in the poled-out genoa in a nor-easterly
> force 4 gusting force 5 making around 6.5 knots. Innovatively, the genoa
> is poled out far further forward than normal, and partially rolled
> allowing it to behave like half a spinnaker and enabling us to point an
> aggressive 150 degrees off true wind which is dead on our Rhumb line. The
> sea is quite rough which the Hydrovane self-steering might struggle with
> were we to squeeze another quarter or half knot of boat speed by shaking
> out one of the reefs in the main; we might have to intervene manually to
> get her back on course quickly, as we did with a couple of minor squalls
> overnight, whose incidence is forecast to grow.
>
> The Hydrovane provided more drama when its rudder became wrapped in thick
> Sargasso weed. Because it is unthinkable to stop or even slow the boat,
> the Ship's Boy was lowered over the stern with a fish gaff to push the
> weed off whilst seven knots of Atlantic blundered past, though very warm
> it was.
>
> In other news, the water-maker is keeping up with consumption - amazing
> when you consider I bought it second-hand on eBay!
>
> D