Jonathan Crinion Ocean Racing
Jonathan Crinion and one of the world's leading Naval Architecture firms; that of Owen Clark Design LLP have together designed and developed a superb racing machine to the new Class 40 Rule of 2004.
| Vessel Name: | Friends of the Earth |
| Vessel Make/Model: | Owen Clark Design Open 40 |
| Crew: | Jonathan Crinion |
20 October 2006 | Pendennis Marina, Falmouth, UK
Falmouth
Well that's it, Cape Town to Falmouth. This last bit of the voyage from Madeira has seen some of the worst weather ever - non stop. My wind strategy worked well to go up the centre of the English channel and ships criss crossed all night. The weather grib files have been hopelessly wrong for the past [...]
18 October 2006 | 48,5.57N , 9,13.81W
Knock down
The ocean can be brutal. More to the point the weather can be. Yesterday was sunny but with large swells and I had been hitting 17 knots reaching on and off for most of the afternoon. Speeding off faster and faster, the feeling is exhilarating. With a reef in the main and the Genoa up I was under canvassed [...]
17 October 2006 | 45,29.51N , 11,19.44W
Approaching the channel
All along I've used one nautical chart for the Southern Hemisphere and St Helena and another for the Northern Hemisphere plus one for Madeira. I'm making fast progress at the moment and should be on the 10 degree West Longitude line shortly where I will switch to a detailed chart to take me into La [...]
17 October 2006 | 42,44.86N , 13,40.48W
Contemplation
I'm starting to understand why Bernard Moitessier made the turn and headed towards the Pacific. He was wondering what he would arrive back to if he kept going on to the UK. It's so vast out here and so far away from everything. I have a 360 degree view of the universe. I'm completely self sufficient [...]
16 October 2006 | 42,33.68N , 14,3.52W
Storm Warning
Wisdom says go wide of the Bay of Biscay but my weather files are showing a huge area of no wind to the West of me which forms the centre of a large and very vicious looking low heading this way.
Dark clouds approaching
Speed: 9 knots, Course: 328 deg.
UTC Time: 13. October 2006 08:35
I'm settling into a routine now. Sleeping sporadically but well, almost too much!
The Active Echo, which squeals when a ship's radar picks up this boat, works well. Usually the ships are over the horizon so there is plenty of time to react. There has only been two passing ships so far.
I gybed during the night to head out to sea more and because the wind turned; I'm now almost midway between the Azores and Lisbon.
I'm running down wind at the moment with barely any wind but it looks like the winds will pick up to 35 knots this evening or earlier so I better get a nap or two in before then. Mind you I'm already surrounded by black clouds.
Spending my days puttering but not really much to do at the moment. The boat is pretty empty and light with only me on board and I've done enough cleaning for now. Perhaps I'll put new line on the Karver blocks, which seem to require almost daily maintenance to prevent them from inverting.
I'm missing the warm sunny skies and clear water in Madeira.
All the best,
Jonathan
