A welcome break in hot sunshine and gentle winds

After days of being punished and thrown around things have definitely
turned for the better, we have emerged from our dry suits stinking like
dead rats and are enjoying a lovely spinnaker run in a hot sunshine and
gentle 20-25 knots of wind. I guess conditions like this will be
exceptional but who says we cant enjoy them while they last.

Both Hugo and I have found ourselves needing quite a lot of catching up
with sleep but feeling a million times better every time we squeeze in a
few restful hours. I still think the emotional roller coaster of the first
few days was a combination of fear of the unknown, apprehension and
immediate physical exhaustion while being thrown around in wet horrible
conditions… i bet most of the fleet was wondering what point exactly we
were trying to make!

Now i think we have at least a few days ahead with mild conditions which
should give us a chance to clock some good miles and regain full
energy before we’ll dip south towards at the end of the ice limit into the
southern ocean proper where temperatures will plummet and the sky will
look like a sheet of lead, or will it? There’s only one way to find
out!

Posted by: firstclass