Pleneuf Val Andre, 6 July 2010
The first long offshore finished last night. After almost 200 miles the boat arrived at 1am at the harbour of Pleneuf val Andre. Whit a light breeze it took some more time than planned. With a good second part of the race, a 15th position was gained. Unfortunatly the boat had some damage. This was the last race together with Bouwe Bekking. Our new skipper will be, Laurent pages arrived yesterday evening.
The start of the offshore was not a good one, the team was almost at the back of the fleet. So Bouwe decided to try to get some free wind. Due to the current they had join the boats that were in the back. Till the first upper mark it was impossible to overtake boats. After this mark the real work could start. By overtaking the first boats in the morning, they got a good flow. The boat speed was most of the time much better than some of the pro teams in the front. The spirit in the team was fantastic and they pushed each other to the max to get the best result.
But the good flow was interrupted. In a 15th position a big rock was hit, they had to drop the spinnaker, get the boat in reverse, hoisted the jib and continue. With probably some damage on the boat they wouldn't take any risks anymore. They only could defend their position till the finish
Finishing in 15th position they lost some points to the main opponents. Today there will be one more inshore race. Most guys who sailed the offshore can have a little bit of rest today. Rodny, David, Pieter, Bram and Laurent will go on board today. Alex and Ralph will go back on board after one short night at the camp.
By now there are already two boats out of the water which also hit some rocks and have damage. The Mumma Duck will be taken out of the water after the inshore. And Kay and Pieter will have a big job to repair the damage on the bottom of the boat. Hopefully the boat will be in top condition again tomorrow to sail one of the longest offshores of the tour: Pleneuf Val Andre - Lorient.
Photos by Ruud Kattenberg (www.brunelsailing.nl).
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