14 January 2023 | 38 45.642'N:0 15.249'E, Passing Denia
02 June 2022 | 38 20.362'N:0 29.043'W, Real Club de Regatas, Alicante,Spain
01 June 2022 | 36 34'N:2 37'W, 70 miles N of Melilla, Algeria
31 May 2022 | 36 14'N:4 41'W, 35 miles W of Gibraltar
30 May 2022 | 35 28'N:09 12'W, 170 miles W of Tangiers, Morocco
29 May 2022 | 34 48'N:12 14'W, 220 miles SW of Cape St Vincent, Portugal
28 May 2022 | 33 43.9'N:14 36'W, 115 nm NE of Madeira
27 May 2022 | 32 47'N:16 30'W, 15nm SE of Porto Santo
27 May 2022 | 32 44.478'N:16 42.722'W, Quinta do Lorde marina
25 May 2022 | 34 04'N:18 41'W, 106nm NW of Madeira
24 May 2022 | 35 30'N:22 29'W, 340 miles WNW of Madeira
23 May 2022 | 36 22'N:25 01'W, 33 miles S of Ilha de Santa Maria, Azores
22 May 2022 | 36 14'N:29 09'W, 90 miles WSW of Ilha de Santa Maria, Azores
21 May 2022 | 36 21'N:30 30'W, 720nm ENE of Madeira
20 May 2022 | 36 19'N:34 51'W, 300nm SW of the Azores
19 May 2022 | 36 08'N:36 47'W, 450nm SW of the Azores
18 May 2022 | 34 48'N:39 45'W, A week from Madeira
17 May 2022 | 32 54'N:45 07'W, Still in the middle of the Atlantic
17 May 2022 | 32 54'N:45 07'W, In the middle of the Atlantic
16 May 2022 | 32 14'N:45 49'W, 1450 miles west of Madeira
A day of two halves
04 July 2017 | 33 05.422'N:117 38.319'W, Transpac - LA to Hawaii
CC
Yesterday we were given a great send-off from Rainbow Harbour, Long Beach with announcements of our departure being broadcast and canons being fired. As the only British entry since anyone can remember, there were plenty of accolades given for the fact that Zephyr had travelled 10,000 nm to get to the start line. And the crew felt pretty good about that also! More of that later.
The start off Point Fermin was under very light airs, but we were well placed and in the hunt from the off. The prime consideration at this stage was to judge when to tack to clear Catalina Island to port. Local knowlege was paramount as we were told to expect a lift as we approached the Island. Happily the breeze built to a respectable Force 4 and by the time we reached Catalina we were up in the leading pack. From there we were able to crack off a few degrees in order to position ourselves south of the rhumb line to Hawaii as the breeze continued to build and allow Zephyr to reach over 9 knots of boat speed. In all a cracking good start to our race.
As is typical, the wind decided to die as we went into our first night at sea and by midnight we barely were able to keep Zephyr moving. Not good for morale! But with the dawn the wind freed enough for us to raise our Code One spinnaker and put the boat speed back up to 7 knots. Now utmost concentration is key as the wind remains up & down so we divide the helming into half hour slots.
So all is well. We have just picked up the daily forecast which will allow us to ease a little more south whilst maintaining good boat speed. Happily we also have a favourable current of almost one knot.
And the more of that later? Well we wish to thank all those who made their own contribution to assisting us achieve the delivery from Lymington to the starting line. We will not be naming you, but we know who you are. Thank you so much!
Chris C
PS http://www.yachtzephyr.com has a direct link to this blog and to the race tracker on the TransPac website.