Coming in hot!
Pedal to the metal for the trio after 228 days and 7+ knots for Abhilash and Kirsten! At this pace, next Sunday will be the last of the 33 they spent at sea before their arrival in Les Sables d’Olonne. In the meantime, this weekend looks good, with downwind sailing on well organised seas all the way to the Bay of Biscay. No doubt they will enjoy surfing down the Atlantic swell under spinnaker, on their lighter boats, now carrying minimal food and water. Champagne sailing for all!
Abhilash is skirting the low-pressure, playing with the pressure ridge, but the short seas did not yet allow him to lengthen his stride, when Simon (CH) and Kirsten had already started surfing south of him! This is especially true for Kirsten pushing Minnehaha hard, under VDH’s ex-maxi spinnaker on the bowsprit, snatching the speed/distance records for the last 30 days: best speed over 4 hours, best distance over 24 hours and best distance over 7 days. As impartial as one can be, that’s quite impressive.
Cpt. Gugg will have a mixed bag over the weekend, swapping unstable trade winds for a windless sail today. He could finally get out of purgatory on Saturday or Sunday with a light southerly flow downwind but still facing residual swell… Big Up, Michael! It’s Equator time for Jeremy (CH)! He alternates spinnaker and code zero in light winds when conditions allow. Time the doldrums for the third time in 11 months, Olleanna is superbly positioned with very narrow doldrums, which Jeremy could get out of by the middle of next week!
