smaller than a bathroom....

Hello Everybody

We have made great progress through Friday towards the finish line. I had the A5 chute up but as planned dropped it and have switched to the jib top while I sailed into this header. I am starting to worry a little that I might not have used the last 48 hours to get south enough, the latest weather says that the northerly after tonight’s light air patch is going to be more easterly and that will make the wind angle very square on Saturday, I will be dead upwind (better that then dead downwind!) of Nantucket Lighthouse. Its hard to be sure, there is still 280 miles to go to the lighthouse so lots of time to get south but it’s on my radar.

Nothing new to report on the boat front. King of Shaves may be small but the J105 is a pretty awesome little boat really. Very seaworthy and other than upwind in the light she’s pretty fast as well. With the chute up nothing much is faster rating for rating. I don’t know this for a fact but I would guess this is the first J105 to cross the Atlantic and I can recommend it, other than the fact that the living quarters down below are smaller than the bathroom of a modern semi detached house…..Oh, plus the fact that the only real way to go to the toilet is “bucket-and-chuck it”!!!!!!

Absolutely no viz out here today. I can only see the front of the boat, misty and chilly. I have spent a lot of time today hiding in my conservatory (home built solid sprayhood) as that allows me to see all the sails and stay warm and dry at the same time, but other than recently its been cold enough to want to keep the hatch closed, so that whatever warmth there is down below stays there. My sail repair on the A5 held so that was satisfying.

Race wise its me and Barry on Dinah fighting for the lead in the Gypsy Moth class. We have a pretty good lead on the rest but I think I am about 10 miles in front of Barry today so that is go9ing to go down to the wire. We are also fighting for 5th place across the finish line which is pretty good as we are in the smaller class. I think I might get there early Monday at this rate….keep your fingers crossed and thanks for all your emails.

Cheers

Osc

If you enjoy this website why not make a donation to The Institute of Cancer Research. For more information visit our Charities page.