Eat, Pray, Sail: Leg 8 - Race 13: Derry to Den Helder

The 13^th race started on Sunday, 7/17. We were on the boats by 1100, slipped by 1300 and race start at 1800.

At the start of the race, I was down below helping Karri with the kite safety strop so we could have the kite ready to fly. We ended up coming out in about 5^th place, last to hoist the kite, but ended up coming up from behind during the night!

Throughout the whole race, we’ve been gybing back and forth against each other. Once we reached the tip of Scotland, the wind shifted, we hit a wind hole and then the wind shifted upwind, and we were back to tacking back and forth amongst the other boats. Amazing views all around.

We were tacking back and forth with LMAX forever...so close to them!

After we passed the northern most point of the UK, we tacked south while most of the other boats tacked east. As luck would have it, we ended up crossing in front of Telemed down the line and taking the lead! Well probably not luck, because master helmer Hobbits was behind the wheel with explicit instructions to tack in front of Telemed! Shouts and hive fives all around even though there was a short distance between all the boats and it would be unlikely for us to keep the lead for long.

Bam! Taking the lead!

However, it is a day later now and we are still barely holding onto to the lead, with Max and Wendo, no less, hot on our heels! They are only 10 miles behind and we have less than 100 miles to go! Unfortunately there is a big fat wind hole up ahead and TSS zones that we have to cross at a certain angle, so this race isn't over for a long shot and it will probably be tomorrow before we find out the results! I go off watch now for six hours and only hope we are still 10 miles or ideally more in front of the boats behind us when I get up. But I tell you, if VS, PSP and DaNang were to take 1, 2, and 3...that would be one heck of a prize giving ceremony!!!

Turns out after attempting to sleep during my next 4 hour off watch for some time with no luck, I just got up and bugged Huw in the nav station! The anticipation was too much to bear so Emily and I camped out on Huw’s bean bag watching the screen intently and not annoying Huw at all…haha