received 13.12.08 1455 GMT
We had had a great farewell from the people of Cochin. The parade down the dock took a little longer as anticipated and the sun was burning down on us, a good practice for what we expect over the next week, but the atmosphere was great.
After some sailing around past all the spectators, we headed out to the start line. A bit different here than in Alicante and Cape Town - a gentle breeze and no worries with spectators boats, as there were hardly any out.
We had a good start, but Puma got their nose out just half a boat length, and that made it a bit difficult for us as were dictated by them, just follow the leader. The two Ericsson boats were right on our hip, and we sailed for about two hours, slowly stretching on them. Then all of a sudden we lost speed. A quick look through the endoscope, and we learned that we had weed on the keel and rudder, and they both rolled us. Amazing such a bad effect some pieces of weed have on the performance.
Right now, the breeze has dropped to 4-5 knots and we still sail at around 6 knots, hopefully the breeze stays in. ERT 3 is half a boat length in front of us, and we can read their instruments. In about 20 miles we should get more wind, coming back from the east, at least that is what our own weather model predicts. The team that sticks its nose in this first, for sure will get a jump on the rest. Right now we are spread out, some right on the beach and us about eight miles off. Time will tell who comes out best.
Cheers,
Bouwe Bekking - skipper
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