Greetings from the north east Pacific, Kotuku had a good night. Winds remained from the west northwest but varied from 3 to 12 knots. Boat speeds from 3 -8 knots. We think we held our own against the competition but roll call later this morning will tell. Better conditions than anyone onboard had even hoped for given our forecasts. Looks like more of the same to come with a gradual lifting ahead. Remarkable stars in the early evening before the marine layer settled in. Could hear the storm petrels chattering away last night but with the masthead tricolor light you can't see them as one could with a normal stern light.
The crew has settled in nicely and some early stumbles with driving at night with a dark sky and no visual references overcome, things look good (touch wood). Unlike a lot of the other boats we haven't sighted any garbage/debris yet.
The sharks are leading the bats in the mileage race so far but only by a small amount. It has been mostly luck with with the winds more than anything else.
Aloha, Al
I feel like we should make a comment on our last second (literally) rating change. We had been griping amongst ourselves about a recent change from 57 to 42, but were ready to take on the 42 handed down. Quite different from the 81 we have sailed with in the PNW. Granted this is downwind race and we should expect some changes. Thanks to some steady pressure from Alex and Graeme to the YRA some examination of the secret formulae revealed a wrong number put in for our spinnaker luff length with something like an extra meter added somehow. I am sure there may be some griping in the rest of the fleet, what race doesn't have that.
Finally, a big congrats to fellow sloop tavern yacht, Terremoto for finishing second in the Vic-Maui! we hope for some of the big speeds they saw later in the race.
[Note from Janna: So I think this means Kotuku's back to the 57 rating. Phew! Remember as you watch the race on the tracker that we don't have to beat our competitors boat for boat. Some owe us time; some we owe time. Unfortunately, I haven't figured out how to see ratings on the tracker. If anyone does, leave a comment!]
Loved hearing about the night! Great news about the winds and your rating. GO KOTUKU (and bats and sharks :) And thanks for sending along the great pictures of a happy crew. Love from the Caletti/Rath/Yurich clan.
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