Osaka Cup-Optimus Prime 19.4.13 1900hrs. Less than 1000nm to go!
Hi, Thanks to everyone who has sent emails back and the encouragement they provide. I am sorry that I haven't answered you but will try to do so when we get over the celebrations upon reaching Osaka – sober up if you like. Before we tell more of the story a few queries have been put forward so I will answer them first.
The dunny is still working OK. Doctor Dan removed the stitches OK without any fuss. All looks to be in working order. OP is standing up very well. Apart from the kite and forestay which you already know about, we have had very little damage. We blew out a block we were using for the jib sheet in haul which was easily replaced. We had a bit of a scare when the auto helm control panel went haywire. We have a spare but when I first connected it into the system it didn't fire up and we both looked at each other as 3000mile of hand steering was not a good prospect. After a bit of jiggling and a reconnection all was well and Otto the auto helm was back on the job. That is about it so far.
Day 22 – Sunday 14th April Steady as she goes really. Almost boring if it wasn't for the miles we have been able to achieve daily. Still 12 to 18 knots from the ENE with a full main, the jib top and staysail still up and pumping us along. Had our first starry, starry night for a few nights. The new moon is back as well although only small and not out for long. That is about it really.
Day 23 – Monday At this mornings radio schedule we are now just in front of Wasabi (12 miles) and Cadabarra 8 (6 miles). We did 233miles over the past 24 hours which is good for the averages but we are still behind Escapade by 330 miles after taking 27 miles out of them overnight which is what we need to achieve if we are going to catch them before Osaka. There is 1570 miles to go so hopefully that will give us enough time to do the job.
Wind is same-same at 15 to 18 knots although from a little more E as we enter the third straight day of full main, jib top and staysail.
The 1800 ached we have taken another 50 miles out of Escapade which puts then now 280 miles ahead. Wasabi and C8 should be able to see each other as they are only 3.8 miles apart and 30 miles further from Osaka than we are.
For a moment there I thought our feathered friend may have returned but in the end it was a different brand of bird and he only did a lap or two before heading off for a feed. We have seen a number of these guys lately and they are amazing to watch when they go fishing. They drift around and when they spot a feed dive into the water at amazing speed and more often than not seem to catch something as they sit on the water for awhile and appear to be eating whatever it is they caught before flying off to start all over again. Looks like hard work but you gotta eat I guess.
As we get closer to the finish line I am reminded that the OP crews, both race and delivery, often measure how far left to go by other yacht races. For instance as we head down the Tassie coast on the way to Hobart, some one may note that we have a Geraldton race (220 miles) to go and then a bit further on a Bunbury return (135 miles) or whatever may apply at the time. For this race it started out as 2 Freo to Sydney deliveries and then down to 1 when we crossed the equator and is a little under a Freo to Melbourne at the moment. I can't wait until we get to a Geraldton or a Bunbury return or even better a Coventry Reef at 80 miles and even better still a Roland Smith, from Freo to Rockingham, at about 30.
Overnight the breeze dropped to 10 knots but clocked back to ENE so with the slightly better angle between us and the wind,we were still able to manage 100 miles to give us 222 for the 24hours. Go OP!
Day 24 – Tuesday This morning's radio sched had some good news as we have taken a fair swag out of Escapade and she is only 180 mile ahead of us now. The down side of course is that we are heading into what she has been through. We can only hope that it will have filled in a little before then.
Finally had to take the jib top and staysail down as the breeze dropped under 10 knots and put up our number 1. Managing to have them up for 72 hours straight was nice and they did a great job for us. Pace down a little with the 8 to 10 knots of breeze but at least we haven't stopped ….. yet. Continued on like that today and overnight. Didn't get our 200 miles in for the day for the first time in awhile.
Not sure what it was but we must have done something right as I was given another tot of rum this evening. Nice it was too.Next one when is when we cross the finish I believe, although you never know as I wasn't expecting this one!
Day 25 – Wednesday Less than 100miles behind Escapade at this morning's radio ached.
Had a beggar of a day though! The breeze was around the 6 to 8 knot mark early but eventually fell away to nothing. Boat speed on the instruments read 0.00 for most of the afternoon and into the night. I guess it had to happen and we certainly guessed that it would given what had happened to Escapade a couple of days earlier but that doesn't make it any less frustrating.
As we had nothing to do while we waited for something to happen with the wind I decided to see how the air conditioning worked. I have to say they do a dam fine job. We only ran it for the last hour of my off watch and the first hour of Daniel's but it brought the cabin down from a warm 31 degrees to a comfortable 24 in no time at all. Didn't want to spoil ourselves though so put it away until we get to port.
When we finally got some breeze and the boat started moving again it had gone South which was effectively right behind the direction we wanted to go. To make it worse Agrihan Island which is the only thing out here for miles was directly ahead of us according to the charts but I couldn't see it and it stands nearly 1000m high. For awhile there the plotter suggested that we may get past but it wasn't to be, as the breeze kept swinging around to the point where when we were about 4 miles out we where apparently aiming straight t it and I still couldn't see it! Anyway I chickend out and gybed away which in the light conditions was something I would rather have not done.
As the yachties amongst you will know, the strength of the wind is either good or problematic depending on it's direction compared to where you want to go. For instance 30 knots of breeze is fine if it comes from behind you and hard work if it is on your nose. When the wind is square to you 12 – 18 knots converts to good boat speed as we found over the past few days. Now light airs can be OK if they are coming at you, as the wind the boat feels as it moves forward, the apparent wind, is often enough to get up some boat speed. Perhaps the worse combination when you are racing tough is light air from behind as was the case overnight. To get the boat to go in these conditions you need to sail almost square to the wind and well away from where you actually want to go. Well that is what we where having to do and to gybe away from the Island meant the we had to virtually, although not quite, sail back along the line we had just come down to get here. Ouch!!
It is so much easier when doing a delivery or out cruising, you simply switch on the motor and do your 8 knots.
Day 26 – Thursday We finally got under way in about the direction we wanted it to come from (SW) a bit before sunup and put the big kite up straight after the morning radio call. Not good news there though. Wasabi is further in front of us but will still have to work her way through this area of light winds. Escapade though took back about half of what she lost to us and is now 180 miles out n front.
We were able to carry the big kite for about 10 hours during the day before the breeze tightened up a little and we had to go back to a jib. I found it interesting that the kite we chose for todays run was probably not the one we would have chosen to do the same job a week ago when I suspect we would probably have gone for the smaller one. As we are getting closer to the finish line our conservative decisions made earlier in the race are being replaced by those that are of a more competitive nature. The big kite is fine and allowing us to run a little deeper than the small one would have, so is giving a better result. Just an observation and a recognition perhaps, that we have the job ahead of us if we are going to catch Escapade from here.
Overnight was not good again with the breeze dropping out soon after the sun went down. Whilst we did not actually stop again we were only able to manage 6o miles for the night session compared with Escapade's 85 which is the exact opposite to what we need to achieve. Our task is now to make up 50 / 60 miles a day which I suspect will only happen if they stop or get caught up in something we can avoid. Still a long way to go and as they say "it is not over until the fat lady sings".
You probably will not believe it. I know I couldn't when it happened but about 3 islands down from last night's is a volcano called Farallon De Pajaros and sure enough it got in our way as well. Again we looked like missing it for awhile but in the end we must have been destined for it to be an issue as the breeze swung just enough at the right time for us to be heading straight at it and we had to put in a tack to avoid it. I am not sure how many Islands make up the North Marianas group but we found two of them. At least I could see this one.
We must be getting dinkum too, as when the breeze was at the right angle and the right strength, the big kite went up again for 2 or 3 hours during the night. The competitive spirit must still be within us somewhere.
Day 27 – Friday Daylight saw us back into good winds, heading in the right direction with good pace. The down side is that we are currently pushing 2 knots of current and so instead of moving forward at the 9 to 10 knts of boat speed we are only achieving 7 to 8 knots of Speed Over the Ground which is really frustrating. With our more competitive spirit coming to the fore this frustration becomes more irritating when things don't go the way we had hoped.
Wasabi has gotten under our guard again and has somehow worked her way through the light air better than we and C8 have done. It was only a few days ago that they were only 4 miles apart. Wasabi is now 90 miles or so ahead of Cadabarra and 25 or so ahead of us. We will have to work hard to resolve that situation as we head for the finish.
The latest weather grib files that Danilel had downloaded have the two models very similar so there is more chance that they are correct and suggest we should have good winds as the breeze swings from the SW we have now, to the NEerlies we should have for most of the trip into Osaka. Sadly they suggest that the winds should be OK for Escapade as well but perhaps not quite as good for Wasabi. We can only sail with what we have, do the best we that we can with it and then see what happens from there.
I am on watch in 10 minutes so will have to end my latest ramblings for now. Next one will probably be as we get close to the entrance into Osaka Bay which is about 50 miles from the finish line.
Until then be good
TT and Dan
PS. Have just had tonight's sched and Wasabi still 25 miles or so in front of us but we have taken 30 miles out of Escapade today and she is now 180 miles ahead with another 4 or 5 days to play. 40 miles per day is definitely doable and we'll worth the effort so lets have a crack at it.
