Rudder might be broken!

First of all congratulations to Jan who won the race this morning! Have to say we are looking forward to crossing the finish line here on bluQube.

Last night was very eventful perhaps even the most terrifying experience of the trip so far. While we were sailing down wind, I'd just finished a phone call when I glanced at the speed and noticed that we were surfing at 12 knots. Then suddenly there was a massive crash and bluQube stopped motionless for a second. I dashed on deck and quickly saw an orange object floating away in our wake immediately I assumed this was one of our rudders and again dashed down below to check we weren't taking on water. On closer inspection it appears that the port rudder is undamaged although the condition of the starboard rudder has yet to be properly examined. However steerage onboard is still good. Another side effect of the collision is an excessive amount of water coming onboard and it seems the source is through the propeller shaft. There is little to do except keep bailing every hour and make the best speed to Newport.

On a brighter note its nice and warm and sunny, we've seen a variation in the sea temp from 14 to 24 degrees. Higher temperatures signify that we are fighting the gulf stream so we are heading slightly north of the lay line in an attempt to reduce this. so the last few days onboard are going to be very busy with maximum bailing, sail trimming, navigation, ship dodging and minimal sleep. At present it looks like we might finish at some time on Monday, where bluQube will hopefully be hoisted out of the water for closer inspection.

Katie

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