received 15.12.08 1937 GMT
It is in the middle of the night. We have just been hit by a big squall. The wind went from 10 to 20 knots in no time and headed enough for us to tack over to starboard.
The stack is moving sides. The guys are working blood and tears to get the heavy cloth over to what will be the new windward. Or, it was supposed to be the new windward side.
In the tack, something goes wrong. Richard Mason is turning the boat gently to be careful with the radar. We do not want to lose it like we did in the start in Cape Town. We will have to deal with a lot of squalls and fishing boats so it would be a big loss. But maybe he is a bit too gentle. We are turning slowly and at the same time, the foresail is changing side too slowly. The boat stops head to wind and starts backing.
‘Sh******t!’ Richard Mason shouts to himself.
‘Drop the main!’ Too late. He has to run back again.
‘Sheet on the foresail.’
The boat is heeling badly but as soon as we can drop the main on the old tack and sheet on the foresail, we get going again and soon we can tack back.
This was the first drama for us in this leg. It has been exciting with the close racing but unfortunately, we did not choose the best track and lost many miles to our opponents.
We have gained back some and it seems its going to be a fight from now until the scoring gate with a lot of wind shifts, tacking and stacking.
Gustav Morin - MCM
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