It’s better, in a way…

The first afternoon and evening were rather sporty and even unpleasant at times.  We had winds mostly around 30, but with long stretches in the upper 30s and saw a max of 46.  With the ebb tide initially, the seas were a mess. 

Leaving the Solent, we escaped out of the north channel at Hurst castle and are glad we did.  It seems there was a fair bit of carnage near the needles.  Thereafter, we favored staying inside some of the bays for a bit of sea state shelter.  By the early morning hours, conditions were more civilized and Sunday brought some recovery as we beat upwind to Land’s End.  We passed inside Longships lighthouse in a messy sea and, cruelly, not enough wind.  It was a beautiful sight all around, however.

Sunday night saw building wind as an occluded front passed over us full of rain squalls and the anticipated wind shift to the north.    With the new wind, we had 22-30kts much of the night on a close reach.  In those conditions, Kite is no match for the new scows which are 2-3 kts faster. It was a fun night nonetheless and spectacular to see the sky getting light to the north at 3 a.m.

We are looking forward to lunching today at the Fastnet cafe!

After nearly 24 hours, Kite has held its own, currently in 10th place. The blustery conditions have favored Kite against the scows, which should benefit and pull away as the conditions change to downwind later in the race. All is well on board.

The RORC has posted a video of the start: Start of the 50th Rolex Fastnet Race. During the Clas40 sequence, you can see Kite in the mix. Look for sail number USA 144.