La Rochelle to Rio – Leg 1, Race 2 – 28th Sept
Posted by Della Parsons on Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Monday 28th – The winds have gone very light and it's getting increasingly difficult for the people on the helm to keep the kite (spinnaker) flying. Meanwhile Australia have closed the gap on us a bit and Finland appear still to be much further back but have veered off sharply to the east. It looks as though they are way-behind but I'm nervous that Eero their Skipper, might be pulling of a master-stroke of tactics – we shall see!
Each day now is getting hotter and hotter and from now on we shall be mainly wearing shorts and bikini-tops! (Ok, maybe not the boys!) We've even jettisoned our foul weather gear and boots at night and it's either long trousers and trainers or some more hardy souls are keeping with the shorts and flip-flops!
We took the decision to play our “Stealth mode” from 6pm today – which basically means none of the other yachts get given our position on the regular scheduled updates for a whole 24 hours. A new tactical element to the race introduced this year, we were all very excited to be the first yacht to use the “Stealth mode” That evening we did everything “Stealthily” and this came to a climax when just before 2am and the other watch was due on deck. I'd woken their watch leader Ollie, up at 1.30 but hadn't seen him since. I was just about to go and give him another shake when I spotted a couple of dark shapes further forward on the deck. We then could just make out the whole of starboard watch in full 'Stealth mode', SAS type, black outfits wriggling out of the forward hatch and crawling along the deck! It was a top “stealth” effort and we didn't let on we'd seen them inching their way along, on their bellies until we threw on the deck search lights and thwarted them!
It was a great jape and an example of how we are learning to keep ourselves amused and our spirits high when the winds are light and progress feels painfully slow!
Each day now is getting hotter and hotter and from now on we shall be mainly wearing shorts and bikini-tops! (Ok, maybe not the boys!) We've even jettisoned our foul weather gear and boots at night and it's either long trousers and trainers or some more hardy souls are keeping with the shorts and flip-flops!
We took the decision to play our “Stealth mode” from 6pm today – which basically means none of the other yachts get given our position on the regular scheduled updates for a whole 24 hours. A new tactical element to the race introduced this year, we were all very excited to be the first yacht to use the “Stealth mode” That evening we did everything “Stealthily” and this came to a climax when just before 2am and the other watch was due on deck. I'd woken their watch leader Ollie, up at 1.30 but hadn't seen him since. I was just about to go and give him another shake when I spotted a couple of dark shapes further forward on the deck. We then could just make out the whole of starboard watch in full 'Stealth mode', SAS type, black outfits wriggling out of the forward hatch and crawling along the deck! It was a top “stealth” effort and we didn't let on we'd seen them inching their way along, on their bellies until we threw on the deck search lights and thwarted them!
It was a great jape and an example of how we are learning to keep ourselves amused and our spirits high when the winds are light and progress feels painfully slow!
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