Tag Archives: Spinnaker

Mother duties and kite wraps

My third week has seen increasing wind strength while sailing in the Northern Pacific Ocean causing the very warm water to splash over deck soaking our t-shirts and shorts!! On Wednesday we had a delayed visit of King Neptune while still coping with the leakage of diesel fuel and on Friday we wrapped the big spinnaker around the forestay and we could not get it down while the wind strength kept increasing.

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A quiet time in the Doldrums

The week started with splitting my eye brow after a sudden movement of the boat and ended with absolute calm in the Doldrums and a delayed visit of King Neptune after crossing the Equator. Other highlights were flying fish and leaking diesel tanks making life on board an ocean racing yacht with 17 people just that little bit more interesting.

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Getting ready in Airlie Beach

This week has been a nail biting week for the crews and me for different reasons. The last race from Sydney to Airlie Beach was short and therefore the finish into Airlie Beach was very close with the winner LMAX Exchange and second placed yacht Great Britain 49 seconds apart.

Earlier in the week Mission Performance reported a massive sustained gust of 70 knots pinning the yacht at a steep angle and moving it sideward at 17 knots of speed. It shows how in these warmer climates the weather can change in an instant.

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Unpredictable weather and race tactics

20151016This week was dominated by difficult tactical decisions and unpredictable weather patterns with very strong winds for some and no wind for others. Team Unicef are in fifth place although my family members have been querying the drastic tactics employed by Team Unicef to get ahead of the pack.

 

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