About 10pm last night the wind was right to hoist the (Asym) Spinnaker, once it was hoisted I took off like a scalded cat, the wind peaked at 22 kts and under a dim lit sky I steered my way though the sea using the moonlit white crests as signposts to the sweetspot to catch the waves. The boatspeed sat at a steady 11kts, peaking at 16.5kts. out the back of the boat I left a wake that a sunseeker would be proud of and it glowed with phosphorescent.
Occasionally I left George (the autopilot) in charge and every time he rolled off the waves and luffed me up into wind, making me jump up and grab the the controls to stop the spinnaker from flogging before it pulled the mast down. With zero sleep all night I have had to take the Spinnaker down and go with 'white sails' for a while. I need a rest and although I can see Elixer on the horizon and I know they will gain on me whilst I rest I don't have any other option, George is useless in these conditions but will cope enough for me to get some sleep without the spinnaker up.
Once am rested I will just have to gun it once again to catch up!
No comments:
Post a Comment