American Girl finishes Bermuda Race
Hello Friends of American Girl!Well, last night wasn't the best sailing we've had, but with dawn the wind came up a little, and at least now we're moving. We made very little way from midnight until the sun came up. We're approaching our Gulf Stream entry point, about a half day later than we expected. Spirits are good, and we're looking forward to a freshening breeze and favorable current as the day goes on.
The evening update should come from in the Gulf Stream.
Happy Fathers Day to all the fathers out there!
Michael Brown
Navigator
For the Captain and Crew
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Captains message
First of all, I want to thank all of you who have sent loved ones to help out. I understand that our gain has been your temporary loss. But we are sailors and the sea has a powerful calling.We are who we are.
This has been an incredible adventure with lots of stories to tell by some remarkable men. All have given their best and crew chemistry could not have been better. I am so proud of this crew and her boat. We have sailed at a very high level of performance and got through a lot of real challenges. Very few people understand what 30 knot winds, 8-10 foot confused seas, and a dark night are like in a small boat. We had few issues and both boat and crew held up well. I can't share all the details of the kind of humor that gets us through such times as this is a family channel- but crew spirit was never in question.
Currently we are about 30 miles from Bermuda closing in with some very well sailed boats. Our tracking data tells us that most of the boats in our class took a very different approach than we did and will likely beat us to the finish. That is ocean racing and this chess match was not ours to win. We are however sailing in near perfect conditions with 10 knots of breeze blue sky and veryblue water. It is a beautiful sight with lots of boats and sailors all converging. I am also quite sure my crew has the best jokes.
We expect to finish in daylight and grab showers, food, and rest. Some of you will be arriving soon to see the spectacle around Hamilton harbor stacked with racers and their machines. It is a sight that is very special. Bring your cameras.
Our only injuries have been bruises mostly mine and a little too much sun. We will live to sail another day.
All the best to the many friends of American Girl.
Ubi victoria ibi concordia
The skipper.
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Less than 80 miles to go. We are looking at a daylight finish if the winds hold. It was a god night of sailing with some good speeds turned in. As of now we are flying the "code zero" A head sail that is not quite spinnaker but not quite jib, it is giving us a good boat speed for what should be our last leg of the race.
We can see a couple of boats around us now. Hopefully we are doing well, we will know for sure tonight.
Finishing soon makes us happy not just for a job well done but to be rid of the stink that has become our boat cabin as well. The combination of a racing boat with little ventilation and 8 men who are working hard to keep the boat fast tends to make things stink. Add to this a very high humidity, bodies being soaked in sea water with no chance to dry off, wet shoes and socks, Oh god...the shoes...... And we have a very unique petri dish of smelly bacteria that could infect a continent. There will be some serious cleaning done at the dock.
As for now we are sailing along with smiles on our faces and having fun. We would convince Dan that the course is actually "once around" that is, go around Bermuda and finish back in Newport but we are not sure we could take 4 more days of this smell.
"Cowboy" Kell Morris
Watch Captain
For Captain and crew of " American Girl"
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NOTE: American Girl finished 10th out of 13 boats, but keep in mind that this was a much closer race than their position indicated. A lot of what helped the winning boats was being in the right place when the winds picked up. Congrats to our friend Miles and the crew of American Girl for a great race, and a wonderful play-by-play via satellite phone.
posted by CT Bob @ 9:36 PM
1 Comments:
Wednesday night we finished 16th out of 21 (corrected) and loved every minute of it (except for the five minutes it took to get the spinnaker up). That was with 13-18 knots. 31 knots and we begin to break things (because I don't like to reef). That's why when it comes to ocean racing I'll just enter a Virtual Regatta. More power to you for doing the real deal!
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