7th in tough offshore!!

The organisation decided to sail the 126 miles offshore instead of the 70 miles that was planned. It was going to be a long offshore. The dock start was at half past two yesterday. Already about four o'clock they had to anchor, because there was almost no breeze anymore. After an early finish they had the 7th position! The team is now in a second place in the amateur ranking!

It was a very long race yesterday. Because of the changing conditions it was difficult to sail for long a time. Almost every hour they had to anchor. But with good tactical decisions from Bouwe they won some meters every time when the wind came. After a long night a lot of boats couldn't make it to the end and had to abandon and head to Dieppe by engine. The first of the retired boats reached Dieppe about 2pm. During the night the Mumma Duck was between the 6th and 8th position.

In the morning the team was in 7th position and were halfway through. More and more boats had to give up. In the end of the morning only 14 boats made it. The committee decided to create the finishline at the last mark for the first 14 boats. And for the other boats in competition the second last mark was the finish. The team was still in the 7th position at the last mark so they would finish at this position. At half past eight they were back at the harbour with some help from the Belgium team. The last boats didn't arrive till midnight. A very good result for the ranking. The team is suddenly 11th overall and 2nd in the amateur ranking! A lot of celebration today; first the soccer world cup and now this, a great day!

Hopefully another good day today. The inshore races are replaced by a so-called coastal-race from 16 miles. But with more than three weeks to go everything is still possible.

Stay tuned!