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Last night in harbour for Hyde Sails
Monday, 21 September 2009
Tom Gruitt shares his thoughts ahead of the start of the transatlantic leg to Rio, in Brazil... which will see the Clipper fleet, all powered by Hyde Sails, battling it out to win the first leg of the 2009-10 Clipper Round the World Race.
"As we approach the last night in harbour until we reach Rio last minute changes and tidying up is going on aboard most of the boats. The atmosphere here seems jubilant, but there is also a sense of anticipation of what's to come. We're having our crew briefing this afternoon in which we will be organising the watches for the rest of this leg. It looks like I'm not going to be assigned to a specific watch, but will participate in both so that I can always be on hand with my camera to get the best shots, whether this will be easier than having just one watch, I'm not so sure!
"The weather forecast for the next few days, when we'll be sailing across the Bay of Biscay, is mainly light winds, increasing the further we sail out into the ocean, so it should be a fairly smooth ride for us all to get our sea legs on again! We leave the dock in La Rochelle at 0630hrs tomorrow for the race to start at 1000, you can track our progress on the Clipper website tracker at www.clipperroundtheworld.com.
"The next report I will be sending will be at sea, let's hope I can remember how to use the computer on board!"
We'll follow the progress of Tom on board Cape Breton Island and Hyde's sails over he next four weeks as they cross the Atlantic.
posted by Hyde Sails at
19:43
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