Tall Ships Races

Concentration and Celebration

Posted on 27. May, 2009 by admin in Latest News

Yesterday the crew of Jolie Brise endured another very hot day with light winds and calm waters.  They report that helming the boat can become quite frustrating as they constantly try to keep the sails filling; minor adjustments to sail trim and course are the order of the day.

“We gybed onto port tack yesterday, which felt unnatural to us all at first, after having spent the past few days on starboard and then last night we had a spectacular sunset and some huge splashes of water on the horizon, but whether it was a whale or a big game fish is a mystery,” they report.

Their drop to second place on Monday had them alarmed, but they were happy to hear yesterday that they had regained their lead but know that their position is a precarious one.  ”At the moment the race feels more like a test of our mental strength than our physical endurance – concentrating on keeping up boat speed, even though the heat is making us all feel pretty lethargic at times. Dipping our feet in buckets of water helps matters, as well as the occasional water fight.”

A highlight last night was that the crew were given an unprecedented ration of grog from their captain. “The occasion was our passing the half way mark across the Atlantic.  We are now passing above the lower slopes of the Mid Atlantic Range, the longest mountain range on Earth.  We had a lovely mini party with a couple of rum and cokes, and Fi even made a cake for us.  Adrian the pigeon is still with us and we hope he will stay with us until Bermuda (although what he will do when we get there is undecided!)”

The next race report will be available at around 1500 hrs GMT.

The fleet’s progress on the race can be seen via the fleet tracking.

The list of all the vessels positions on corrected time can be seen in the Vessel Positions Update.

Further images are available from the Picture Gallery.

The Tall Ships Atlantic Challenge is organised by Sail Training International with the American Sail Training Association.

With thanks to  Freight forwarding agents to Tall Ships Atlantic Challenge 2009.

and Weather forecast providers to Tall Ships Atlantic Challenge 2009.

Tags: Bermuda, challenge, Tall Ships, transatlantic