What a challenging first 24 hours for Ceilidh and the rest of the ARC
fleet.
After the exhilaration of starting and being surrounded by the fleet, we
soon had torrential rain and wind gusting up to 34knots from the NE.
This meant we soon had 3 reefs in the main and some rolls in the genoa as
Ceilidh blasted along at around 9 knots with a peak of 15.6 recorded.
We also therefore had to hand steer in these conditions with the quartering
3metre swell causing Ceilidh to corkscrew badly at times.
However with preventers fitted to the main and genoa, all the watches did
extremely well to keep to our track.
This morning we have completed an amazing 202NM 24hour run by our log which
is the best ever total for us!
The wind has steadied at around 20knots this morning with brighter skies
coming from the North as the recent low pressure system moves away to the
SE.
We still have some yachts in sight this morning one of which Stiarna an
Oyster 47 from Inverkip with our friend Graham Thom onboard.
We also had company with a pod of around 20 dolphins visiting us this
morning.
The only breakages to report were the saloon table which kind of came
away in my hand during one severe roll and a mainsail car which has
snapped.
So an absolutely flying start for the fleet with continued steady NE winds
forecast.
So everyone is doing well and looking forward to what the next day
brings.
Thanks for all the messages of support, much appreciated by everyone on
board.
Dave Sturrock