Persephone of London Day 1 Fastnet
Persephone... Cruiser/Racer
Nigel & Karen Goodhew...
Sun 11 Aug 2013 19:54
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Persephone of London - Double handed Fastnet
2013 Day 1 20.42 BST
A day of ups and downs... our day got off to a
questionable start with a few engine problems, so as we motored through the
identity gate there was a question in our minds as to whether we'd be able to
fight the east-going tide to make the start! Not to mention the potential
embarrassment of being able to drift back past the identity gate and hand our
retirement in before 11am...!
In the event we were all fine and we found
ourselves a reasonably nice gap on the northern end of the line ... tacking
and crossing all the other sigmas except With Alacrity...
We made a bold call to split from the fleet and
head North - thinking that the tide would be turning but really we were a
bit keen and jumped over there a bit early - significant losses!
Oops.
Leaving the solent, we began to be a bit
over-pressed (but not particularly slow)- but elected to peel to a smaller jib.
That was a wet few minutes! Winds of up to 20kts have now reduced, so we are
back on our super light genoa, on starboard sailing away from Portland
bill, within 3 or 4 miles of our one design leaders and ready to
pounce overnight as the pressure drops!
It has been a long day with a few lessons -
teaching us things that we already know... such as:
- I get grumpy when I'm hungry
- Leave the hatch open and water will probably go
in it
- Similarly if you don't wear waterproof clothing,
then you won't be waterproof.
- Dad is good at fixing engines
Boil in bag chicken casserole all consumed - time
for some rest. And some overtaking.
Tim
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