16:16.753N 30:12.295W

Knotoncall
Mon 27 Nov 2017 21:38
16:16.753N 30:12.295W
Knot on Call blog 26/27th November - "From
somewhere to somewhere, the view is the same"
We haven't seen a boat on our computer screen now for at
least two to three days, we know they are out there somewhere and the spread
from the mid day position report shows boats as much as 300 miles
away. After 30 hours of strategic motoring through the 200 mile wide
belt of no wind we came out right on time at 6:00 am today and found
our first trade winds running ENE at a gentle 8-10 knots.
That was the good news but the down side of this wind
direction, which is likely to prevail for the rest of the passage is that we
need the G2 Genekar to push us along at 10 Knots plus. Unfortunately that was
the sail that was shredded on day 1. With an asymmetric rig we have no spinnaker
poles. Try as we might to set up a goose wing with the boom as a pole and the
jib and Code 0 genekar set on opposing sides it still needs further
thought. Work in progress for tomorrow and when the stronger winds blow
through.
Finally settling on a standard configuration rig of main
and gib sailing downwind at a wind angle of approx 155 and a COG of 225, the ARC
2017 Sweepstakes is on. Triff (hand steering) boldly took on the autohelm,
otherwise known as "Vera the Steerer" and was the first in the saddle. Sailing
at 6-7 knots he made a VMG of 4.8 knots, in other words 4.8 miles per hour going
in the direction of where we want go as opposed to where we are able to sail.
Graham responded riding his mount "Pin Ball Wizard" using only flippers,
flappers and push buttons in support of Vera. Vera also achieved a an
unimpressive 4.8 knots but was assisted by an additional wind strength of +2-3
knots. The 3rd umpire decided that because the wind varied by more than 10% the
results were not a valid comparison and as a face saving device it was decided
to declare the race null and void! The overriding conclusion is that it is a
bloody long way left to run at that VMG - we were hoping to see 6-7 knots plus.
At lunch time we had moved a little further up the
fleet but now expect the cavalry to come pouring over the horizon spinnakers
aloft. Spare a thought for the fast racing fleet who are not allowed to do any
motoring. They are all well behind us and having battled through the extreme
wind and waves up north, have now entered the large windless area in the mid
Atlantic and by Wednesday may be hit by another depression bringing
stronger winds than the previous one. This long distance sailing malarkey is all
about good wind and weather forecasting and manouvering the boat into a position
to take advantage of the winds whilst keeping one eye on where you are
actually trying to get to. Our weather forecaster gave us a longer term waypoint
this morning that is 600 miles away and said go south with as much west you can
and as quickly as you can to escape the lowest limb of the next depression. Next
gybe in 170 miles!! This is definitely an endurance event and unfortunately
without the G2 we are unlikely to have a sprint finish.
We saw several interesting spumes of water sprayed by
something passing the boat in the opposite direction - was it a Whale? Pasta
bake for tea, seemed we didn't pack the Lasagne sheets and the pineapples have
started fermenting so we will eat what's left of them. The bananas were turned
into delicious flapjack and the rest of them will be Pancake mix. Still quite a
lot of fruit and veg and the meat is good for another 6 days and then we will be
turning to the can opener for dinner. Last night being Sunday, we had roast
pork, roast potato and squash, leaks, carrots and gravy - very
nice.
All for now - John
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