J+3, 17:13
Hello everyone,
We’re leaving the wind behind…
After our lovely run across the Bay of Biscay, it’s time for erratic gusts and a battle of nerves!
After sailing along Cape Ortegal and the Galician coast until nightfall in magnificent conditions, the middle of the night found us stuck in a zone of complete calm that was difficult to predict. Aruba (Pogo RC) and Léon (JPK 1050) stayed a little closer to land, whilst OSE (JPK 1050) always sailed further offshore. This was the right choice, as by early morning, Éric and Max had regained the lead over the Pogo RC Aruba.
For my part, I managed to limit the damage, but it was clearly nerve-wracking, as within 100 metres of each other, we were either stuck or moving with a microsecond of wind. At daybreak, the sea is as smooth as glass and the boats are at a standstill. The forecast is grim: we’ll have to wait until 3 pm for the thermal to kick in. Between 8 am and 12 pm, I managed to slip into a few wind pockets to catch up with Alex on Léon and on Laudato, so I’m happy.
What followed was a complete standstill for three hours, with the sails flapping… We drift for two hours and I take the opportunity to have a quick nap. When I wake up, they’ve already pulled a mile or two ahead – what a fool!
The thermal is slowly coming in, but before I can catch up, they’re off again; the gap widens, and now I’m pushing hard in 10 knots of wind under spinnaker to stop them getting away. Anyway, it’s going to be calm again tonight and perhaps we’ll all regroup a bit. So all is well aboard PERSAIVERT, but it’s not easy to find calm, stable conditions for a good night’s sleep! I’m trying to get back to some semblance of normality with bacon and eggs this morning and a fresh shave this afternoon.
Have a good evening, friends,
— JP
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