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The tough decision will take place tomorrow as the wind backs into the north and the fleet will tack onto port and start heading east.
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Day 1 - May 22, 1998
Report #2
1855 GMT
46° 34'N, 002° 23'W
Place: 1st; distance ahead of 2nd-place boat: 1 mile
Miles to Southampton: 380
From: Paul Cayard, Skipper, EF Language
What a start! 15,000 people lined the tiny inner harbor of La
Rochelle to send us off and the 2,000 spectator boats were on the
water to wish us well on our final leg of this Round the World
Race.
It was a reaching start and at the first turning mark Toshiba led
Kvaerner, followed closely by Swedish Match, EF Language and
Chessie. The first three did a gybe set and went immediately into
the spectator fleet, while EF Language and Chessie bore away and
got some nice clear air. We gybed back to the fleet too soon and
Chessie carried on to lead around the second mark. The fleet
stayed very compact through it all and still is some 6 hours
later.
We have taken over the lead now some 60 miles northwest of La
Rochelle, albeit a small lead over Kvaerner. We seem to be going
well, reaching with jib-top and genoa staysail.
The forecast is for the wind to stay in the northeast tonight, so
we should make good progress and be at Brest in the early hours of
Saturday. The tough decision will take place tomorrow as the wind
backs into the north and the fleet will tack onto port and start
heading east. The tough part is when [to tack], due to the complexities of
the current and the continuation of the wind shift. The wind is
also predicted to get much lighter, which will have a big effect
on When.
We have started our "full race" watch system, which means 4 down
and 8 on deck. We will stay that way to the finish. Having 8
on deck rather than 6 gives us much greater flexibility for
changing sails.
It definitely feels like the end is near and a lot of thoughts are
going through my mind as to what we have been through in the last
9 months. This will be an interesting weekends' sail.
Paul Cayard's Whitbread Log
