One additional pic attached.
Will try to call tomorrow. I guess James is now 'on watch'?
cheers,
Mike
News From The Kid
Nice to have full day sun abroad The Kid !
By far the first of the race :)
We report also a gust at 41 knt , forza 9 if we look in the books !
we look forward for the 2nd part of the T R .
JP
Wizard update
WIZARD UPDATE
2100 UTC 30/06 Posn 43 36n 037 32w. Se temp 18.3C Speed over ground 19.6 COG 75 Mag.
All going well on the good ship Wizard. Just managed 466nm last 24 hours at an average speed of 19.6 knots.
We have seen the worst of the breeze from the low and conditions should moderate in the early hours of the morning.
Next appointment is with the ridge of High pressure at 1200utc on the 2nd June.
Cheers,
Will
PS
DOn't see the last blog posted yet.
-------------------------------------------------
Do not push the "reply" button to respond to this
message if that includes the text of this original
message in your response. Messages are sent over a
very low-speed radio link.
The most concise way to reply is to send a NEW message
If you DO use your reply button, be sure to delete
the original message text and these instructions
from your reply.
Replies should not contain attachments and should be
less than 5 kBytes (2 text pages) in length.
This email was delivered by an HF private coast station
in the Maritime Mobile Radio Service, operated by the
SailMail Association, a non-profit association of yacht
owners. For more information on this service or on the
SailMail Association, please see the web site at:
http://www.sailmail.com
Update from Caitlin Murphy Aegir
Spirits are high aboard Aegir as the rain has moved on, and we are feastig on Amy Dawson's incredible meals. This morning began with a gorgeous sunrise and moonset, the first we've seen since the clouds have finally lifted. Mild weather and blue skies lifted all of our spirits and prompted some good story telling.
Yesterday around mid afternoon, we realized that our water-maker was no longer working properly. This posed a bit of a challenge to making drinking water, cooking , and of course going to the bathroom (we have fresh water heads). The crew of Aegir have taken this in stride alternating who has the arduous job of pumping liters of salt water through a hand pump to produce fresh water. Our water making system has reached new heights with the innovation of a pipe duct-taped to a hook that is put into our wake that forces the salt water uphill into our buckets. An improvement to getting wet everytime we refilled the bucket!
A couple pods of dolphins have been following us for the past few days, circling to come say hi every few watches and making for some great enertainment! At night, the most incredible part is watching them swim through the phosphoressence - leaving their own glowing wake.
We have just put up our first spinnaker of the crossing as we sail into a ridge of high pressure. With nice weather, lots of candy bars, and calm seas, we are excited for the next few thousand miles!
Caitlin Murphy (on my first trans-Atlantic)
Yesterday around mid afternoon, we realized that our water-maker was no longer working properly. This posed a bit of a challenge to making drinking water, cooking , and of course going to the bathroom (we have fresh water heads). The crew of Aegir have taken this in stride alternating who has the arduous job of pumping liters of salt water through a hand pump to produce fresh water. Our water making system has reached new heights with the innovation of a pipe duct-taped to a hook that is put into our wake that forces the salt water uphill into our buckets. An improvement to getting wet everytime we refilled the bucket!
A couple pods of dolphins have been following us for the past few days, circling to come say hi every few watches and making for some great enertainment! At night, the most incredible part is watching them swim through the phosphoressence - leaving their own glowing wake.
We have just put up our first spinnaker of the crossing as we sail into a ridge of high pressure. With nice weather, lots of candy bars, and calm seas, we are excited for the next few thousand miles!
Caitlin Murphy (on my first trans-Atlantic)
CHARISMA Day 2 | ligth winds
Nach dem vielseitigen Auftakt segeln wir mit frischem WInd aus S-SE in die Flaute. Der Seegang bleibt, der Wind bleibt weg. Diese Konstellation verursacht Dümpelei und schlagende Segel. Der auf dem Wasser liegende Seenebel variiert in seiner Intensität und macht schließlich der von oben wärmenden Sonne Platz.
Seenebel
Die verdrehte Halterung am Mastrutscher bereitet immer noch Probleme und Gerd nestelt erneut. Sobald wir das vorübergehend halb geborgene Segel wieder aufgeheißen kommt wieder Wind auf. Toller Segelwind, bei S-SE 4-5 Beaufort gleitet die CHARISMA durch die
sonnenbeschienen Nebelbänke. Neufundlandwetter vom Feinsten ...
Segelwechsel
Am Abend ist es dann aber mit der zusätzlichen Brise vorbei. Die See glättet sich, die Atlantikdünung bleibt. Wir entscheiden uns zum Vorsegelwechsel. Die solide und gut geschnittene Genua III hat bei den bisherigen Windbedingungen von 4-6 Beaufort am Wind
bestens gestanden. Nun ist es jedoch Zeit für die größere Genua II mit der wir uns mehr Variabilität bei den folgenden Windschwankungen versprechen.
Teamwork
Die CHARISMA treibt in der Flaute. Wir bergen das Großsegel, da die Halterung am Mastrutscher weiterhin Probleme bereitet. Nach diversen Versuchen bekommen
Gerd und Karl mit Schraubzwinge und Rohrzange die Segellattenhalterung zum Mastrutscher wieder ins richtige Maß gedreht. Perfektes Teamwork zwischen Techniker und Ingenieur, Boat-Captain und Navigator!
Flaute
Wir heißen das Großsegel wieder auf - nun steht es bestens - und bergen es wieder. Das schlagende Großsegel bringt in der Flaute keine Performance und leidet nur. Wir probieren es mit der Genua, doch auch das Tuch schlägt aufgrund der Dünung ins Rigg. Nach
unserem Abendessen mit lecker zubereiteten Nudeln gibt es Obstsalat. Für die Nacht rollen wir das Vorsegel ein, treiben im Atlantik und die Wachen observieren die Naturbedingungen.
Aegir Day 3
Day 3 - Aegir
The washing machine!
Following our first night at sea in relatively benign seas and moderate winds, we have been treated to a night of washing machine conditions as we negotiate the Gulf Stream. Very confused seas, warm water, shifty, and puffy breeze, needless to say we've had a couple of people feeling worse off for the hot wash and spin cycle conditions! Clarke, our skipper, likened it to a bucking bronco ride.
It's been a difficult race to route so far, as the weather systems are more complex at this time compared to 'normal' summer more simplistic systems. We're trying to position ourselves advantageously to the low pressure system which is advancing on us, whilst making gains on the Gulf stream which doesn't run in a straight line west to east, so with the wind predominantly out of the south, it's been a game of playing port or starboard tack as the wind shifts and tide rate dictate. In terms of the competition we can see that Wizard have been playing a similar game, making gains in the Gulf Stream, whilst Scallywag have taken a northern flyer which doesn't tie in with any of our routing, especially with the ice gate limits being so far south. I'm thinking their Yellow brick tracker may have been hijacked by a migrating pigeon! Time will tell! As I'm writing this it's roughly 1pm UK time on Thursday 27th June, sea conditions are abating, and we're re-grouping and tidying up after last nights bronco riding. One concerning issue is our water-maker, which we've found out doesn't like making water despite being 'operated on' by our boat captain Romain Mouchel. Second operation is booked later today. Therefore our water-making has been fruitless so far and as a precaution we are using our emergency hand water pump to make water in the interim. When you're 14 people on board, drinking water needs certainly add up. Despite all this, the sun is shining, morale is high and we're making fast miles in the right direction. Go Aegir!
Abby Ehler
Warm waters and sunshine at last
PLEASE DO NOT REPLY TO THIS MAIL.
Warmer waters at last...
We've been on the wind ever since the start... and the PC says we will
be for another 700 miles.... living (and typing) at this level of heel
is never easy, but everyone has settled well into it.
Last night was wet... a bit over the deck but just rain rain rain...
every photo I've seen of the north altlantic and it's endless grey
skys were true! That was until about 1 hour ago when the centre of a
depression has caught us up but brought sunshine, whales, dolphins,
warmth and a tack. Sea temperature went from 14 deg C to 18 deg C in
1 hour... getting near the gulf stream now.
I've attached a few photos including Jens tidying up with an assisting
dophin, breakfast (bacon & mushroom sandwich), Andy, James & Mark
enjoying lunch in their cabin beautifully made by Alice. A jumping
whale... sorry missed the close ones as we were changing sails and a
overall shot of Pata Negra's cockpit. We've temporaily moved to a 4
on / 6off watch as it's running smooth to max on the sleep.
James Trafford has been driving (helming) quite a bit this afternoon.
It's his second transactlantic in 12 months, the last being he rowed
across with his two sons winning the 3 man category in this annual
incredible event. He raised £250k doing this for charity supporting a
UK Hospice.
He's one of Giles Repath's (owner) friends who as been on Pata Negra
before, but inshore, but like me, loves the incredible isolation that
offshore racing takes you away from the corporate, or Legal in Jame's
case) world that keeps us so busy the rest of the time. Giles
couldn't make this race due to family commitments and we're missing
him (and his humour)... we'll at least a little bit. ;)
Alice is cooking dinner tonight whilst I get 5 hours kip (bliss).
Something nice to wake for!
A final footnote hot from the deck... we've seen quite a few sunfish
hanging around... one had a bad tumour and the guys on deck saw a
shark circulating it waiting for its dinner. The other point though
was we've seen a huge number of factory fishing vessels here clearly
fishing on a massive scale many miles away from sight... reminded me
the of the oilrigs of last year. I just hope its sustainable.
--
Chris Hanson
Pata Negra
CHARISMA - DAY 1 | busy start
As expected, we had all of everything in the
first 24 hours from start: Heavy rain, variable to strong winds, reefs, thunderstorms and fog.
To get familiar with the environment, we changed helm every half an hour after the start. With dinner (spaghetti Bolognese prepared by Stefan and Horst) we settled in our watch system. The new sails performing well - jib and mainsail were up, depending on the wind reefed or not.
Currently, we are suffering old seas and light Winds - speed 3 knots. What a difference to the speed of 8 knots this morning. Anyway - everything goes well on board - the captain is now catching up sleep after a busy night.
Constantin & Crew on SY CHARISMA
Day 1 Aegir
Day 1 - Aegir
We are on the train!!
Our navigator, Mike Broughton, in his pre-race spiel had likened our exit out of Newport to that of catching a train, in the sense that there was a passing front travelling west to east, and the timing of our start would likely enable us to jump on the second to last carriage and hang on for as long as we could to the good breeze. So I'm happy to report that we made the train! Mike also described the first 24hrs as wet and busy, well 12hrs in and we're wet but not so busy, We've been lucky that the breeze has held out of the south more or less, giving us reaching, straight-line conditions as we head east. It's certainly nice to be going fast and in the right direction with flat water, albeit a little soggy!
02:00 Boat time. Off to my penthouse suite, aka the fore peak!
Abby Ehler
TR2019 - end of Day 1 (or it may be some time in Day 2 as we've switched to UTC!)
Been a busy day on Pata Negra since the 11am start this morning. A short tacking battle at the start between the rocks and current added an "inshore" feel to this 3,000 mile race. About 1 hour later, things settled down onto being full close hauled to Starboard as we headed for the south of Nantucket Island and the shoals around it.
We've settled now into our 3,3,4 watch system that was put together brilliantly by Aladin. 3 hrs working the boat, 3 on standby and 4 in bed. Wea're in pairs doing this so I'm with Jens (who's joined us from Finland) and it keeps 6 on deck or ready all the time.
I've just finished a Chicken Stirfry (Not Freeze dried! :) ) which seemed to have done the trick with all considering its been raining all day. At one point, so hard we could fill water bottles from the flood pouring off the main... wind has been generally steady but lifted us really nicely upto the waypoint, meaning no tacks.
The run up to this event is always stressful - there's a hell of a lot to do in ensuring the team and boat are ready for 2-3weeks at sea safely. But at the start today, I (along with others on the crew) could feel the stress of on shore life just disappear. Offshore racing is not everyone's cup of tea, but the incredible feeling where you feel a team building stronger together, collaborating and focussing on a common task is amazing. With the vast experience on this boat that has come as far as Australia, Chile (sort of!), France and the UK, you can feel a want to win... we're definitely focused on it.
Catch you all soon! Will have some photos when the rain stops (Friday???!)
Chris on Pata Negra
TR2019 - Hiro Maru
Aloha from Hiro Maru. All is well, crew are getting use to the new environment, including foul weather gear, has been pouring rain the last few hours. Have been mostly close hauled, looking forward to the marks at Nantucket Shoals where we will be changing to kites. Good pressure thus far, hopefully can stay within the small low as it moves. Vietnamese Chicken and rice on the menu tonight will certainly taste good. Hiro Maru out.
Pata Negra Pre-Start Report
Pata Negra is pretty well ready for the race now after a few very busy days by the crew under the leadership of Andy Lis (Skipper). Jens & Rob have been stars driving all around the town as we got all ready as there is always something/someone needs getting somewhere. Although it was a busy day, a few of us were able to watch the fantastic flag raising / cannon from the New York Yacht Club at 8am (exactly) who are hosting this incredible race.
11am today we'll set off.... I'll send you all updates as we go, but to save distraction and the satellite costs, please don't reply.
Attached are photos of Pata Negra (sitting stern to on a NYYC mooring), the incredible club house at Newport and our table at the dinner last night.
Chris on Pata Negra
