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The start of the leg across to Rio
Tuesday, 22 September 2009
Tom Gruitt set sail today aboard Cape Breton Island, bound for Rio in Leg 1 of the Clipper Round the World Race as the 10-strong fleet, powered by Hyde Sails, headed for the Bay of Biscay, This is his first report from onboard..
"After an early start to get out of the marina in time for the tide we all paraded around outside of La Rochelle being let by the yacht Joshua, this boat came second to Sir Robin Knox Johnson when he was the first person to sail singlehandedly around the world non-stop.
"We set for a spinnaker start at 1000, but the wind that was there for the parade soon died away to nothing, we averaged under one knot of boat speed for a few hours, but have now completely stopped. We have completed 2.7 miles in two and a half hours, pretty slow and frustrating going. The light wind start has seen many different sail combinations, main with kite, windseeker with mainsail, and someone has even tried just hosting a spinnaker with no mainsail, nothing appears to me much better than anything else! The forecast is for light winds for a few days, but let's hope at least some sea breeze sets in soon."
posted by Hyde Sails at
20:32
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