This year impressive crew with our future ship's boy
The past regatta Ruta de la Sal was as always cold but this time pretty sunny all the way. The passing by Formentera in the middle of the night was again a highlight as with clear skies the Eastern full moon made the island look like something extraterrestrial.
Racing wise it was a very tricky regatta. Headwinds all the way from Denia to Formentera made up for difficult tactical decisions. Our forecast stated a shift to the south that made us stay north of the direct line (ok, in all fairness our navigator advised to go south...the tactician and especially the skipper overruled him)...unfortunately, the forecast was proven wrong...we arrived to Formentera behind the leader's pack, but managed to recover lots of ground until Tagomago by playing the spinnaker perfectly during the night and early morning.
Sunny but cold - full gear on
We passed the Tagomago gate at 10:36, just several miles behind the leading pack (and in front of the legendary Maxi Fortuna, which broke the 24 hours speed record with 411 nautical miles at the 1988-89 Whitbread Around the World - current record is from 2008 and hold by Ericsson 4 VO70 with 599nm).
I was already thinking that we would make it to Sant Antoni for lunch....but then we hit a doldrum and stayed put for 5 hours!! well, we actually lost ground and with the current moved backwards...it was pretty frustrating, especially when you see 100 boats approaching slowly but steadily from behind...
Running goosewinged with the a-spi to leave the doldrum behind
We arrived in Sant Antoni at 21:53, 31 hrs 41 min 10 sec after the start, our longest ever Ruta de la Sal.
Lesson learned this time: don't despair in a doldrum...keep looking for the breeze...and listen to your navigator! :-)
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