To the Stream

The wind came up to 20-25 knots out of the northeast. Since our course to the stream took us west of the rhumb line, we were footing. This was a fast point of sail for us. 

Around 04:30 the wind had lightened up significantly, down to 5-10 knots. We shook out the reef and put up the #1. The winds had also started to shift. By 07:30 they went to southeast at 10 knots and we tacked east onto starboard. A short time later we put the 1/2 oz. spinnaker up for a short time, but then went back to the jib top.

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In the Stream

By Saturday night the wind had clocked northwest and we put up the 1 1/2 oz. spinnaker in a broad reach. Flying the chute was very tough in these conditions. The wind speed was varying from 7 to 15 k, and the direction was varying 20 to 30 degrees. Wrapping the chute around the headstay was not something that we wanted to do in this race. We were seeing stream currents of 3 to 5 knots southeast while paralleling the rhumb line. I tracked our position closely because I was concerned that easterly stream currents (which would tend to cut off the meander) would pull us toward the rhumb line and then into northwest currents that would mean giving up our westerly position on the rhumb line. 

On Sunday afternoon we were almost at the bottom of the meander where the stream bends around. The wind shifted from northwest to almost south. We could no longer hold the course parallel to the rhumb line. The skipper proposed the idea to tacking west. He had to convince us. It wasn't an easy decision:

After we tacked and settled in,  the following things happened:

  1. We were in a lee bow situation. This took maximum advantage of the stream current by positioning our keel across the stream current. The boat was pointing southeast to Florida but tracking due south.
  2. Our boat speed over ground (SOG) increased to 9 to 11 knots as reported by the GPS
  3. Our VMG to Bermuda initially dropped from 7 knots to 5, but then increased back up to 7 when our SOG came up.

We held this tack for about 2:45 hours until we were headed and then tacked back Sunday afternoon. We had accomplished 7 miles of westing from the rhumb line. Back on starboard we were able to hold our course parallel the rhumb line while footing with the #1 up.

 

Overnight the wind built to 20 knots. We passed through some squalls and saw 21-22 knots. This was with a full main and the #1. Over 20 knots we had to drive off with this sail plan.

By midnight sustained winds over 20 knots forced us to put up the #3. This is always a challenging sail change to make. On the foredeck waves were washing over the deck so we had to hang on and keep the sails under control. Then the #1 didn't want to come down. The bolt rope near the head pulled out of the tuff luff and would not pass through the metal fitting at the bottom. Mark managed to disassemble it, get the sail out, and reassemble it without getting washed overboard or loosing any parts.

By daybreak Monday the wind had gone down to 14 knots out of the west. We had the jib top up with a full main. Continuing parallel to the rhumb line would lead us into foul currents from a cold eddy ahead. We needed to converge with the rhumb line. Falling off 10 to 15 degrees allowed us to fly the 1.5 oz. chute. Additionally we were able to move in front of our competitors which were all east of us. We increased and consolidated our lead with this faster point of sail that our competition which were presumably at a higher, slower point of sail.

We approached Northeast Breaker light on the perimeter of the Bermuda reefs with a full main and a #1 jib on Tuesday morning. As we rounded Bermuda, came up to a full point, and then a short beat to the finish. 11:10 AM was a record time for the boat.

To the Race Strategy

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the crew while waiting for the Governor's visit

 

Peter Rebovich Sr.

Governor welcomes Sinn Fein to Bermuda

Bill & Elaine Nichols at the awards ceremony

Joe Pasco, Bill Nichols, & Pete Rebovich

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