Although I am only too well aware of the necessity to make as many 'easy' miles with this following wind as possible, I shall also be careful not to break anything; Newport is still a long way of and I'm not even half way.

When I intended to end yesterday's mad dash across the Atlantic, by reefing the jib and removing the pole, things did not go as planned. Within minutes after I made mentioned sail changes, the win piped up to a full 30 to 35 knots, gusting to 39, and I was again planing down the waves like a madman. Just before dark I'd had enough. I was standing in the cabin, looking out of the windows and studying the sea, when a big breaking sea developed alongside. As the crest broke, with the boat on top, we flew with it. I think that the boat must have been out of the water almost from the mast, as the bow wave, if you can still call it that, started at the cabin windows where I was watching. The plane seemed to last indefinitely, and speed rose to 14.6 knots. Surprisingly, all seemed to be in perfect control. Autopilot steering a nice straight course without too much effort. And there I stood, nailed to the ground, admiring the boat's performance and at the same time fearing for the worst. Ultimately, the wave won and we slid down the back of it and reduces speed back to the 'normal' 9 or 10. That did it for me, and I went outside and took away the jib completely. From then on we were going at a 'mere' 6.5 to 7.5 knots, only occasionally surfing up to 10.

All night we sailed like this, rather comfortable and still making good progress, although loosing what I had regained on Tamarind and Banjaard. All night and early morning the weather has been terrible, with an average wind of 32 knots and fierce rain. But now, at 11.30 UTC, the sun makes a careful appearance and the wind seems to the steadily just under 30 knots. So I think I will put up a headsail soon. According to the latest grib files, we will have one more day of 30 knot NEerlies. After that we will get some light wind and, as it looks now, a long feared SWer. So make as many miles as you can, now!!

Bart

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