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Serafina of Maldon - The Start. Plymouth to Falmouth and Dolphins!



One of two Serafina's in the ARC Portugal this is the blog of Serafina of Maldon, a Najad 460. She has taken part in this event in her early youth, back in 2008 (with her first owners). We've owned her since 2015 and we took her back to her roots to cruise the Baltic for the last two summers. We thought we should see a bit of the north before going south to warmer climes!

Although we knew we were not going to get much further, it was good to move on from Plymouth and actually start the rally. The weather refused to be kind to us as it started raining at 0855, just as all the boats were gathering at the start line for the off at 0900.

Of course the wind was coming from exactly the course we wanted to make. As we can't tack Serafina's genoa through the jib easily (she's cutter rig) we short tacked out of the harbour using the small jib (which is a bit slow!). Once out we changed to the genoa and she started to perform at her best. At times we had 28kts over the bow but she was not fazed. Vis was poor and we lost sight of who was in front and behind us but figured we were somewhere in the middle of the fleet by then!

The weather calmed down along with the wind but it was still a beat all the way. At times we were down to 4kts so an arrival by the 1800 cut-off time was looking unlikely.

However, what really cheered us up was a visit by a pod of dolphins, probably about six or seven with some smaller, young ones amongst them. One of the small ones leapt clear out of the water, showing off we think. They stayed about five minutes so we were able to get video and some pics. Race mode was suspended!

As it happens this was our third visit by dolphins as we saw some twice when crossing Lyme Bay to get to Plymouth from the Solent last week. We feel very honoured and look forward to seeing many more.
In light winds we calculated we'd need the engine's help to meet the cut-off deadline so reluctantly, on it went. We made the finish line in time (and actually sailed the last mile as we were free on the wind by then!).

Maggie
First mate
S/Y Serafina

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