Hur man följer Bermuda Shorthanded Return
I morgon söndag går starten på doublehanded-racet tillbaka till Newport. Inte jättemånga båtar, men riktigt duktiga solo- och doublehanded-seglare. Och bra arrat av NYYC.
Vädret ser spännande ut med undanvind första dagen och sedan en rejäl kallfront som passerar över golfströmmen. Kan enligt uppgift bli lite hårigt med många squalls med 30-20 knops vind. Andra halvan blir nordliga vindar 15-20bknop och positionering inför ett högtryck innan målgång. Vi gissar målgång torsdag morgon.
Man följer racet på:
Jul 1, 2024 @ 14:25
Monday Morning
Good morning. And welcome to another hot and sunny day in the North Atlantic.
We pushed hard all night with the A2 up. Wind was 12-18 knots so intense sometimes alone on deck. Now we’re on a code to try to get west and into some favorable current.
The fleet is now split with Figaro II Groupe 5 having pace to the west, and another Figaro, Envolee, leading a group of 3 boats to the east.
Still no autopilot, so maneuvers are hard. But we’ll manage. Doing 3 hour shifts, and try to eat breakfast and dinner together.
Forecast is another day of downwind sailing, before the cold front hits tonight.
Jul 1, 2024 @ 14:26
Sunday Evening
We had a great start and lead the fleet out of “The Cut” in St Georges. Always fun with some pre-start action vs SunFast 3300 Fearless.
Amazing to hear all our friends at the Dinghy Club cheer us on when we sailed past.
Extended our lead after we put the A2 up. Second on the water was a Figaro 2 and then Fearless and the others.
Many gybed early, but we followed our plan and stayed on starboard until the wind went south of 160 degrees. Then gybed. We’re now (20:00) the most notherly/easterly boat in the fleet which makes sense. J/120 Charlotte is is following us, so that might be the fight from now on.
Also have some issues with the autopilot, so hand steering tonight.
If anyone have any tips on how to fix a RF25 rudder sensor that has switched starboard/port plus/minus let us know.
See you tomorrow!
Jul 2, 2024 @ 20:45
Tuesday Morning
Worst night ever on a sailboat.
Apparently a cold front passing the Gulf Stream is something special. And this one didn’t disappoint!
Both of us agree that we rather not do that again.
This the potent mix:
– pitch black
– thunder and lightning along the front
. squalls with more rain than I could imagine (we got hit by 5 or 6)
– 36 knots of wind
– Huge seas
We tried different combinations of reefs, and even sailing with only the heavy weather jib, but everything had the same effect: being inside a washing machine set to “insane”.
The Figaro Groupe 5 lead our little race. They had another mode last night. But we’re well positioned and anything can happen.
Jul 3, 2024 @ 15:38
Wednesday Morning
What a difference a day make!
It’s now Wednesday morning (time flies on board) and the Atlantic show us it’s other side. The nice side with 10 knots from NNE where we can humming along with jib and full main in flat water.
Position in the fleet is similar to yesterday. 25 nm behind the leading boat and just ahead of J/105 Young Americans who made some good decisions last night. We cut the corner of the Gulf Stream and had to pay with 5-10 nm. Hopefully this will pay today.
We’re entering high just south of Newport, so today will be tricky. But this will suit us vs some of the more offshore oriented boats.
We’ll see in 24 hours. ETA in the morning of July 4th
Jul 4, 2024 @ 01:36
Wednesday Evening
Slooow!
Ok. Dinner time. We get Spicy Mexican Birra and Rice at sunset. Sounds yummy.
As predicted, a tricky day attacking the high between the fleet and Newport. Most of the day have been under jib or Code0 in combination with the genoa staysail. Managed to extend the lead of J/105 Young American and shave off some distance to the leading Figaro II Group 5.
But then parked up for a few hours.
Now the wind shifted 180 degrees to a SW and we’re again doing 5+ knots with the code. Faster than all the boats around here, but maybe not enough to catch Group 5. We’ll see what happens tonight. Apparently it will be a light downwind to the finish.
Oh. And we got the autopilot working. The proper menu was found on one display onboard. Luxury not to hand steer all night.
ETA Newport tomorrow before lunch.