Only 3 weeks left before our departure. We sailed Reaction from the RCYC, Cape Town to the FBYC in Simons town on Sunday, were she will be moored until the start of the race. We selected a weather window with a predicted light 10 knots North Westerly so that we can have a comfortable downwind run for most of the trip. However the wind around the Cape of Storms can never be predicted accurately. We struggled with very little wind of about 2 knots from Green Point to about Sandy Bay. Then the wind gradually picked up to around 10 knots. We hoisted the Spinnaker and were running comfortably at around 6 knots. In the mean time the wind picked up to 30 knots and near the Sentinel at Hout Bay we broached and was out of control for a while, after which we decided to take the spinnaker down. We then hoisted our no 1 and were still doing 8 knots with an occasional 12 knots surfing down the waves. From Cape Point we had to beat upwind to Simon’s town, very bumpy, wet and slow. We arrived 15h30 at Simon’s town after a 9h30minute trip.
The Skipper relaxing in his custom made chair for the race. Believe me, this will be a huge improvement in the comfort of the helmsman for the 12 days at sea.
Here you can see the chair in use.
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