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QFB Will Oxley / Brunel Leg 9 Day 2
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Very slow going out here. We are crawling up the coast under a code 2 chute, staysail and full main. ABN2 and Brasil have done well out of the shifts and the better breeze inshore and have built up a reasonable lead. In the light running conditions we just had to watch as Pirates hauled us in. Pretty painful. The boys are joking that we have the right boat for the Global Challenge as she seems to go best upwind!! Speaking from experience though, they are entirely wrong and the 72' steel boats built by the Challenge Business are ideal for their job!
I notice how much use is made of wind power here in Europe. There have been wind fields all the way up the coast. In fact we sailed though a new wind field under construction off the Dutch coast. Europe is far ahead of Australia and the US in this area and we really should follow their lead. In Australia there are serious attempts at building more windmills but the NIMBY (Not in My backyard) principle is alive and well in Australia and this is hindering efforts.
Just ran the latest routing. Very slow!! We will still be out here on Sunday unless the RC shorten the course. It seems inevitable they will. The question is, where?? No one wants a total lottery for the last race so let’s hope we finish before we lose the wind totally!
Cheers,
Will Oxley - navigator
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