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Berenice by TWT - Decision making made easy!



What difference 24 hours can make.

We left Gran Canaria tacking against a stiff wind that wouldn't ease or veer to allow us to steer a decent route to get away from this depression between us and some favorable winds towards the tropics.

During that first night we wondered what would've been like for much of the smaller boats on the ARC fleet and we agreed it was a sensible decision postponing the start of the race for the cruising classes.

Wind peaked at about 27 knots and sea conditions were far from comfortable. Lots of squalls made for some fickle winds that first night, but by mid-day Monday wind started veering and we headed to the west. By 8 in the evening we had the wind on our beam and by midnight on Monday night our logbook reads "NICEE!!!"

Tuesday has been a great sailing day with wind slowly veering and very constant at around 20 knots, allowing for some good genaker sailing, and some good speeds constantly hitting 15's and 16's and maxing at 19.2 knots under full Main and our A4.

Evening came and we were faced with the decision on what sails to use during the night. We didn't want to head too low, but with the wind constantly near 25 knots and still under the A4 on starboard tack, heading a bit higher was not possible. The previous 6 hours were quite demanding at the helm, so right after sunset and watching a couple of big squalls approaching on the radar, we found ourselves broaching at 16 knots with the kite and boom in the water, after which we all rapidly agreed it was better to take the kite down and run a bit higher with the jib and main for the night.

Once we had dropped the kite, we could only be thankful of that broach. If we hadn't had it right at that moment, we might have thought it was safe and sensible to keep the kite up for the night. When we had the kite down, we found the halyard and the tack line almost breaking by chaffing up the mast and up front in the bowsprit respectively. Had we kept the A4 for the night, we most probably would have found ourselves pulling the kite up from the water in the middle of the night.

So we thanked mother nature for working in our favor this time, and we thanked this great Atlantic for the continuous spectacle it gives to us sailors who sail across its waters. We are thankful of the suffering and the satisfactions, the funny times and the scary times, because after it all, we can only learn from the decisions we take, and hope we come out a little wiser, at least a little.

This is Fonzie on behalf of the TWT sailing team. Hoping the rest of the fleet had some fair winds for their start, and safe sailing to you all.

 

BERENICE S\Y

 



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