May 14th 2022
Dry land in less than 100 miles! We’re with the cargo ships, in a swell that’s in the opposite direction to the wind. I’m counting the miles before jibing.
Last night, I took a (risky) option: going by the outside and trying to get by with as few tacks as possible. Otherwise I almost had to go back to Spain, and I didn’t want to do that with my boat that struggles upwind…
The wind is dropping gradually, I’m having trouble keeping a constant speed, so I’m tearing my hair out. I’ve got no nails left, I spent all night adjusting the sails to get the boat to go faster.
It’s still a very interesting race in terms of experience with my new boat. I already knew this, but it’s best to avoid going upwind with it! Alex Thomson wasn’t lying when he said this was a boat made for the Vendée Globe, but the current set of sails really isn’t cut out for this type of race: my genoa is what we call a reacher, for reaching wind, quite hollow. It’s tough for the rankings, but still, I’m happy about the good phases with the boat.
There isn’t much time before the next race, to gain experience and go and play with the others!
In the meantime, I have to go and watch all the cargos through my portholes!
Photo © Vincent Curutchet