Wow, what a first day. The start was quite a spectacle. Light winds but plenty of colour on this downwind start. Stayed west through the acceleration zone which paid off as lay 18th overall (out of 220) after first 23 hours. And third in our class. Have a bet on with Jasmine, another Beneteau 57 to fund the beers in St Lucia. We went further but they sailed smarter and have 1 mile less to go to the finish!!
Paid a price though. Carried the Parasailor all night and shredded one of the guys, ripped the spinnaker head fitting out of the mast and wore through the Genoa UV protective layer in parts. Oh well, never was one for patience and the long game! Went up the mast to try to fix the spinnaker head but bottled out after the 3/4 point - 3 meter swell and 23 knot wind was a little lively. Ellen Macarthur has nerves of steel and that's official! Will try again tomorrow.
Reasonable speed through the night with standard sail plan but auto helm tripping out regularly leading to some hairy moments (including a broach at 3am!). No damage fortunately. We believe we have moved up the fleet having managed a 200 mile day. Glorious day today (Tuesday) with 15 to 20 knot winds and deep blue sea and sky. Bit like the UK at present?
Skip managed to get to the top of the mast today to fix the spinnaker mast head fitting so we will be back in business with downwind sails tomorow.
Fished all day and - wait for it - didn't catch anything. Got all the fancy kit though so still confident for the next few days.
This entry by Stuart (Skip)
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