News from the fleet
SV Fryd: Squalls, squalls and more squalls.
We had the ambition of catching the African Skimmer, but it looks as if the Skimmer has the weather gods on its side. Last night we had some serious squalls coming in some time after midnight and we took the spinnaker down. Hoisted our smaller kite at daybreak today just to have to take it down a few hours later as a squall passed by. Then the wind then got down, and we put the big spinnaker up, just to be hit by a huge squall less than 30 min later. Spinnaker down, jib up, jybing and we have then been riding this massive squall for almost two hours as it looks like we are at the end of it right now.
Shorthanded and squalls are not a good combination as the autopilot is not capable at steering through the squalls and the big, short waves that the intense wind, gusting up to 35 knots, creates. Hand steering combined with jybing and sail changes effectively wear us out. Hence, we must go with less sail and lower speeds, giving each other some rest time, than should we have been fully crewed.
So, please African Skimmer, give us a fair chance and put all of your crew, except for two guys, on leave for the rest of the race and we will have a level plain field up to Rio.
Please confirm and beer is on Fryd once we reach Rio!
SV Audaz: Audaz Race Update
We’re currently 176 nautical miles from Rio. Conditions around us have gotten rougher, with heavier seas and stronger winds. Over the past two days we lost both of our S4 spinnakers, so we’re now running with a small but sturdy heavy sail that’s getting the job done.
A few days ago we also had a broach after a squall hit us during the night. We ended up breaking the preventer bracket and the boom vang, but managed to fix everything onboard. Nights have been a bit tense since then, but the whole crew is doing well.
Everyone is safe, in good spirits, and counting down the miles — already dreaming of that cold beer on the ICRJ veranda.
SV African Skimmer:
The last 24 hours have been a bit of a mixed bag. We had some of the best sailing conditions we have had on whole trip. Beautifully flat water with a nice ENE breeze. We were able to achieve awesome good speeds and excellent miles through the course of the night. Weather picked up this morning with some severe gusts. One of these gusts caught us unawares, caused a severe broach and then tore the bottom off our A4. We have taken the A4 down and are now flying our # 2 job, continuing towards Rio at much reduced speed. A lot of the other boats in the fleet seem to have experienced similar tragedies in the last 24 h. Time and weather has taken its toll on all of us. We soldier on though…
SV Esperança:
Last night, around midnight, we were sailing with the A4 up. The wind was picking up, gusting to 25 knots. We were just crossing a countercurrent, about 200 miles before Cabo Frio. The sea state was terrible, and the boat turned into a washing machine.
For the first time, the tack line cover separated from the core and the spinnaker lifted 6 or 7 meters. Esperança suddenly turned into a kitesurf. In the following gust, the boat broached, with the boom in the water. We were afraid of breaking the mast.
The solution we found was to drop the spinnaker into the water. Fortunately, we recovered it quickly, with no damage. Problem solved: genoa up and new underwear on. Life goes on aboard Esperança.
