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Crew member on GBR100 Artemis Ocean Racing
Written by Crew member on GBR100 Artemis Ocean Racing Thursday, 26 August 2010 13:23
Well I have to say that things have improved in some respects this morning. We have a flat sea, and even sun, so things are a lot better on deck. We rounded Muckle Flugga just before dark last night in 25 knots and a very lumpy sea. The tide had turned on the headland just before our arrival, and so we stood on a little to make sure that we laid the rocks. It's not so much fun short tacking the 60, especially in breeze. After the tack we got the boat organised and sailed little off the wind for a while, before coming up hard for the expected shift. Seems to have worked and the weather is playing the game, according to the forecast for the moment.
We have about 9 knots from the NW right now which is better than we had hoped, and so we are making good progress towards the next mark, Sula Sgeir.The boat seems to be going really nicely at the moment - she is very different from when I took her on the Vendee in 2008/9. There have been some big improvements across the whole boat, but the slim fast plan has been especially good, with well over 1.5 tonnes removed. She certainly feels a lot more manageable. The sail wardrobe has changed a lot - less sails makes the decision process far simpler. She is such a powerful boat, and when the conditions suit her she goes and goes. The blast out of the Solent was great and we had some epic blast reaching in the Channel, just what she was designed for.
She is still a handful for sure, and to get the most out of her you have push very hard - but the boys have done a lot of miles optimising her now, and they know when to back off as well. It's great to be back on board, and great to be sailing with the boys again. I think the last time we sailed together was for Petit Navire regatta in France last year. Most of the sailing I have done in the last 18 months has been solo, so it has been a real luxury for me so far on this trip. I have had my head in the nav for most of the trip, and been getting a lot more sleep than normal!! In fact this time last week, I was still sailing in the last leg of the Solitaire du Figaro - so this Thursday couldn't be more different! I think I have had more sleep on this race so far, than the entire month long Solitaire!! Nice!
The only problem we have on board right now, is with the watermaker. My old friend the watermaker..... On the Vendée I had similar problems and at one stage, SW of Cape Town, I had only 3 litres of drinking water left!! Less than ideal. Luckily I managed to get it working again, so I hope we can manage to do the same today!! I'll keep you posted.
Ok that's all for now, we were sorry to hear about the retirements, and hope every one has made it back to port safely.
Cheers, Jonny and the boys on Artemis Ocean Racing
