All change
Marinara
Ed Dolman
Thu 3 Dec 2009 12:55
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Good day to all
our readers.
Well, after
yesterday's entry it was almost inevitable. Yesterday afternoon the wind died
down to just under 15 knots and the swell all but disappeared! Not
satisfied with a paltry 6 knots of boat speed, Scotty ordered the asymmetric
from the engine room and we were soon speeding off downwind again at 8.5
knots. This lasted until dusk when, despite incredibly skilled
helmsmanship from those less experienced in keeping a gigantic kite full of
wind whilst under enormous pressure from Dave ("Don't wrap it round the
forestay, it's a xxxxx to get it unwrapped again"), it was decided that a
more conservative sail plan would be in order for the night. After a bit of
technical experimentation (trial and error) we opted for our old favourite
and spent the night goosewinging with the genoa poled out, which resulted
in comfortable and steady, if unspectacular, progress as well as some
much-needed sleep for the crew. WE spotted some more dolphins last night but
apart from that the wildlife count is, sadly, low. The weather this morning
is beautiful again and already hot (31C), the rod is out to catch our
lunch and we are moving ever nearer to St Lucia. How much nearer and
at what speed it would now be unfair to disclose, in view of a competition
instigated by Dave's cousin, Robbie, ( Professor Sir Robert Boulter, eminent
meteorologist and sailor of some repute (veteran of Leg1 from Hamble to
Portugal), for those of you who do not know him). The details of this
competition are set out in the following extract received recently by us
from the Professor:-
"Thunderweather [ ie Robbie (Ed)] is inviting
entries (in exchange for great prizes of course!) for calculating the day and
time that Marinara will cross the finish line - submissions need to be emailed
by no later than Friday 2200hrs UTC/GMT to rob {CHANGE TO AT} thundersailing {DOT} com. The calculated finish time should be expressed in
UTC/GMT day/time and not rum time! (it's easy really - look at the event
websites etc - calculate Marinara's usual daily run - etc etc).
So get your thinking/guessing caps on and email your entry for the finish time soon! (Sadly 'Virtual' entries cannot be accepted unless accompanied by certified confirmation of a Degree in Games Software.) Prizes for the
nearest calculation to the actual finish time (there will be an Adults prize and
an Under Sixteens prize) will be presented on a date in the nearby future -
virtual or otherwise!"
Accordingly,
all references in the blog to boat speed, daily runs and distance to the
finish are embargoed forthwith and you will have to look (if you are not already
so doing) at the ARC website, which we're sure you all know by now is at
worldsailing.com. So get those calculators out, don't forget that the entry
should be in GMT, and good luck!
More later. 03/12/09
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