Big Spirit - The Big Blog!

Big Spirit - Bright orange, 72 ft long and 50 tonnes of steel - a downwind race for this monster is going to be a challenge but a delightful one.We slipped lines at 1030 hours on race day, Sunday 23rd November, motored out of the marina and headed to the "playground" - an area just off the east coast of Gran Canaria to hoist sails and get into the swing of things. Due to our size, weight and the crowded start line we opted for a simple sail  plan and hoisted a full main with only a yankee No.1 - the second forward sail, the staysail, was left in the sail locker to make life easier on the start line. For those of you who don't speak yacht - the yankee is the sail at the very front of the boat more commonly known as a genoa or jib between friends and the staysail is the sail just back from. read more...

Big Spirit - The Big Blog - Day 3

Hot Showers and High Tea!As a beautiful crimson dawn broke relief followed as the wind built. We had experienced an incredibly frustrating night with winds of 1 knot at their lowest and a boat speed of 0.0 and when you weigh 50 tonnes you are not going anywhere! High hopes over breakfast with the wind blowing a fabulous 12 knots.So today was kite day! An enormous spinnaker - the unmistakable orange of Big Spirit and the size of one and a half tennis courts - was launched just  after breakfast. The knitting that takes place around our decks to achieve this is quite spectacular, with each line carefully run so as not to achieve carnage. Up went one of our enormous spinnaker poles swiftly followed by the orange beast and with the final drop of the yankee and pull of the sheet we were under. read more...

Big Spirit - The Big Blog - Day 4

Trim, eat, eat, trim, eat!Dawn broke to produce a beautiful sunny day with crystal blue skies and the call for a kite launch. The big orange beastie went up again and stayed there - all day. The boat - driven and trimmed - by the crew propelled us in the direction of the Cape Verdes, humming along at perfectly respectable speeds of 8 knots.Once again we continued to eat - I swear this is the only transatlantic crossing where I will put on weight!! After a hearty breakfast, tea and biscuits arrived mid-morning with lunch - today delightful bacon butties (not a single fish paste sandwich in sight!!!!!) - being followed by our standard afternoon tea and cake which arrived at 3.0pm. Supper swiftly followed at 1740 hours! I couldn't move! I think we will all look like beached whales by the. read more...

Big Spirit - The Big Blog - Day 5

Thanksgiving Day!Last night saw the first hairy night of the race so far for the crew withwind speeds topping 23 knots and with a heavy sea state this produced a rolethat required an enormous amount of concentration when driving. We didhowever, pull out consistent speeds of 10 knots which rapidly reduced ourarrival time in the Caribbean which is helpful - the once suspected prospectof spending Christmas and New Year on the boat bobbing around this pond hasbeen shattered - which is quite annoying as a decision had just been made as to which crew member would become the best Christmas lunch in the absence ofturkey!!!Today was a very special day for two members of our crew in particular.Itwas Thanksgiving Day and the various (and numerous) offerings that appearedfrom the galley were. read more...

Big Spirit - The Big Blog - Day 6

As the dust settled from last night I surveyed the scene of devastation onthe deck. Coffee stains everywhere gave away the carnage of the earlyevening watch struggling with the helm.Huge quartering seas and strongwinds put then all to the test. An exhausted crew snuggled in their bunksnow with my watch now doing battle with an odd combination of lights.They sat off our port beam and appeared to show the lights of a trawler.We watched her on the radar move forward at 21 knots then back on areciprocal course at 6.5 knots and yet she remained on our port beam.Eventually as our courses were clearly converging a VHF call was placedand a sorry sounding voice responded that they were in fact a sailing vesselin the ARC and had, during the rather hairy night, had managed to jam theirmain half up,. read more...