Mojeka - Mojeka – Transatlantic Day 12

Position: 15.226547N, 56.027320W

THE SECRET

After receiving our award for 2nd place in Group B in Mindelo had dinner at a restaurant. The crew of another boat came in and sat down at the table next to us. One of the crew members came over and joked that they were sitting so close to us to try to overhear our SECRET.

We had no idea what he was talking about…..

Twelve transatlantic days later we think we have it figured out. It isn´t us, it is Mojeka. 

The Moody DS54 is simply a fantastic boat. Based on the Hanse 575 hull (known to be a great cruiser) it has an extremely fast hull, which delivers speed at surprisingly low winds. Add to that the Carbon Technora sails and you have a combination that gives this 56ft 31ton boat impressive performance in spite of its mass. 

We had no special downwind sails and did not use poles, but did the whole trip almost exclusively with the standard genoa as the only sail up, frequently we even reefed that (electrically). We found that the addition of main with preventer only resulted in turbulent air, degrading the performance of the genoa.

I would like to know how many boats crossed the atlantic with a genoa alone. Cannot be that many and most boats in our class and the total ARC+ fleet are behind us.

Sven Haushahn, the agent for Moody in Germany once said that we would not be first, but we would get there in the greatest comfort. 

He was so right. However, whereas I think he somewhat underestimated the speed of the boat he made no false promises on the question of comfort. 

The large open plan salon/galley that merges seamlessly with a huge, well protected cockpit makes for an extremely spacious feeling, giving each crew member plenty of space to hang out. Monique prepared the most delicious meals (it felt and tasted just like home) in the fully equipped galley next to the cockpit in full view of and communication with all the others. She says bluntly that she would not have come along if the galley had been at a lower level in the bowels of the boat.

We had some technical problems (watermaker, oven etc,) which cannot be blamed on the maker of the boat, they only concerned peripherals.

So in summary (and I derive no financial benefit from saying this) our secret is very simply that WE HAVE THE RIGHT BOAT!

PS winds (and seas) continue to be stable at 20 to 26kt and we are making good progress at 7.2kt (so far still without gennaker). At this speed we should arrive in the morning of the 1st of December. However, weather predictions call for a lull starting before reaching St. Lucia. If its minor, we can pull out our secret weapon the gennaker, but at the same time it might mean an arrival some time later in the day.

PPS:

Still no tuna, BUT George and Dave pulled in 2 (in words: “TWO”) large Wahoo estimated at about 15kg each! One ended up in our freezers, the other one was sent back on its way since our freezers are full. Imagine, with less than 48 hours to go!

PPPS:

had our “first Advent” coffee time with Stollen and Spekulatius to the roar of the rolling Atlantic, in bright carbibbean sunshine to the tunes of the Pentatonix Xmas album. Weird…..