Epilogue
The whole crew has now returned home and Monomotapa is in Rodney Bay awaiting new adventures.
Official results have come out. As calculated, we were 2nd in class, 9th overall. If you are interested, full listings in http://www.worldcruising.com/arc/results.aspx.
Olli has made a summary of our pictures at http://managementevents.kuvat.fi/kuvat/ARC%202009%20-%20Crossing%20the%20Atlantic/. Salasana (password) is arc.
Have an enjoyable holiday season and a great New Year!
Over and out.
Hannu & the Crew
22/12/2009
09/12/2009
9.12. A Beginning
36 hours from landing. Time to reflect back on the experience.
It was an experience that met all our expectations. We got all we were after: excellent team spirit in the boat, fun and relaxed two weeks, being pampered by our Italian hosts, great sailing in sun and perfect winds, some heavy wind and difficult situations to get the adrenaline up. Perfect.
How did we do? Winning line honours in our class and being 46. of over 200 boats (of which 170 are faster than Monomotapa) is pretty good. In handicap 2. in class, in top 10 overall is equally good. Especially considering that we had practically no weather information to plan our tactics. Did we try hard enough? If we hadn’t broken anything, the answer would clearly be no. With two spinnakers and some smaller things kaput, we can say that did push it. Actually we were at our best on the hardest conditions, the heaviest winds. If there had been more of those, we would have had a good opportunity to clear the trophy table. Purely from the sailing perspective we learned a lot. None of us had extensive experience from driving with spinnaker. Now after two weeks in varying conditions I am sure we all are pretty confident about that.
About our bet on the arrival time. Iiro’s estimation was 11 min. from the actual arrival time. Not a bad guess over a sailing time of over 100 hours. I am sure I will hear about that for the next five years.
At least for me one of the really positive things in the trip was our Monomotapa. As Finns we have of course been familiar with and proud of the reputation of Swans, but we were still amazed about the sailing qualities of our Swan 46. As an X-37 sailor I would say that I am used to good, but there were so many occasion where it became clear that an ocean passage sets it own requirements.
So, was this the first step in round the world sailing? Probably not. We are all (except Iiro of course) a bit too hyper active to do this for two years in a row. But this will probably lead to new experiences. Alberto does the best Mediterranean regattas and is planning to participate in Fastnet Race as well. I am sure part of the crew will return to those.
Hopefully the most lasting result of this adventure is the friendship ties made with Alberto, Andrea and Paco. Again we want to thank them for this great experience. This is just a beginning of a friendship. The next etap on that path is Volvo Suursaari Race on 11.-13.6.2010. We have invited the Italian crew to join us for this traditional race that is with almost 200 boats one of the largest ocean races in Europe.
On behalf of the whole crew I would like to thank all our followers and other readers for following our trip. Olli will put a selection of photos to web latest next week, the link will be published here as soon as it is available.
Navigare necesse est.
- Hannu
It was an experience that met all our expectations. We got all we were after: excellent team spirit in the boat, fun and relaxed two weeks, being pampered by our Italian hosts, great sailing in sun and perfect winds, some heavy wind and difficult situations to get the adrenaline up. Perfect.
How did we do? Winning line honours in our class and being 46. of over 200 boats (of which 170 are faster than Monomotapa) is pretty good. In handicap 2. in class, in top 10 overall is equally good. Especially considering that we had practically no weather information to plan our tactics. Did we try hard enough? If we hadn’t broken anything, the answer would clearly be no. With two spinnakers and some smaller things kaput, we can say that did push it. Actually we were at our best on the hardest conditions, the heaviest winds. If there had been more of those, we would have had a good opportunity to clear the trophy table. Purely from the sailing perspective we learned a lot. None of us had extensive experience from driving with spinnaker. Now after two weeks in varying conditions I am sure we all are pretty confident about that.
About our bet on the arrival time. Iiro’s estimation was 11 min. from the actual arrival time. Not a bad guess over a sailing time of over 100 hours. I am sure I will hear about that for the next five years.
At least for me one of the really positive things in the trip was our Monomotapa. As Finns we have of course been familiar with and proud of the reputation of Swans, but we were still amazed about the sailing qualities of our Swan 46. As an X-37 sailor I would say that I am used to good, but there were so many occasion where it became clear that an ocean passage sets it own requirements.
So, was this the first step in round the world sailing? Probably not. We are all (except Iiro of course) a bit too hyper active to do this for two years in a row. But this will probably lead to new experiences. Alberto does the best Mediterranean regattas and is planning to participate in Fastnet Race as well. I am sure part of the crew will return to those.
Hopefully the most lasting result of this adventure is the friendship ties made with Alberto, Andrea and Paco. Again we want to thank them for this great experience. This is just a beginning of a friendship. The next etap on that path is Volvo Suursaari Race on 11.-13.6.2010. We have invited the Italian crew to join us for this traditional race that is with almost 200 boats one of the largest ocean races in Europe.
On behalf of the whole crew I would like to thank all our followers and other readers for following our trip. Olli will put a selection of photos to web latest next week, the link will be published here as soon as it is available.
Navigare necesse est.
- Hannu
08/12/2009
7.12. Grande Finale
Last push. For the last 48 h we have had a conservative strategy in defending our leader position. Too conservative, many of us have been thinking. This was going to be our last day. In the morning we decided to get back to aggressive mode. Despite the certainty of getting squalls, we took up the spinnaker. Karri who had been on the deck during both of the squalls that had shaken our confidence, but had not steered, was full of holy anger and Finnish sisu and swore that he will steer us through whatever would come (this was not an empty testosterone-filled statement, Karri was our best helmsman). Hearing that we had lost the leadership position and were 12 miles behind raised the adrenaline in our blood even higher. We would have 100 miles, 12 hours to catch that 12 miles. We would need to drive 1 knot faster than our competitor. Wind supported our effort and gave us 10-154 m/s and we raged towards St. Lucia at record speeds of constant 10-12 knots. Soon we got the other supporters we had waited for. About a dozen dolphins came and started playing with us. They swam beside us, crossed in front of the boat, then jumped to the air. We cheered them and whistled to them. They stayed with us for more than an hour. The fighting spirit was great, until…
To optimise our VMG (speed towards the finish line), we decided to cut a bit to the wind and make jibes when needed. On one of our jibes, a standard manoeuvre, we made a mistake. The spinnaker boom was not lowered early enough and it cut a hole to the spinnaker… We had almost miraculously saved the spinnaker twice. And now we broke it in a simple basic manoeuvre. There was long silence. Il capitano decided to continue with the broken spinnaker, risking that the hole would be ripped wider and the spinnaker would be completely destroyed. We gathered all the sisu we had and continued pushing hard. After about an hour something happened again. A sudden BANG and in seconds the spinnaker was flying free in front of the fore stay. We managed to get it down and started studying what had happened. Conclusion: the sheet of the spinnaker had snapped. Rope made of spectra, material stronger than steel. The wear of two weeks of almost constant pressure on the sail had done its work. No more spinnaker. Nothing could threaten our victory in sailing time, but the win with handicap was not anymore in our own hands.
Odottavan aika on pitkä. Time goes slowly for the waiting one. Today nobody slept after the sunrise – except Iiro of course. After the sunset at 6 pm the whole crew was on deck. Watching the lights of St. Lucia grow bigger. In silence. For 3,5 hours. Finally after 9 pm we passed the Pigeon Island and turned towards the harbour. At 21.34 we crossed the finish line. 15 days, 12 h and 34 minutes. It was a great moment. We had done it. The whole crew cheered and congratulated each other.
When approaching the dock, we were welcomed by my family: Josefin, Luna and Lucas. A happy reunion. Faithful to the Monomotapa customs we opened a bottle of spumante and celebrated our achievement.
- Hannu
To optimise our VMG (speed towards the finish line), we decided to cut a bit to the wind and make jibes when needed. On one of our jibes, a standard manoeuvre, we made a mistake. The spinnaker boom was not lowered early enough and it cut a hole to the spinnaker… We had almost miraculously saved the spinnaker twice. And now we broke it in a simple basic manoeuvre. There was long silence. Il capitano decided to continue with the broken spinnaker, risking that the hole would be ripped wider and the spinnaker would be completely destroyed. We gathered all the sisu we had and continued pushing hard. After about an hour something happened again. A sudden BANG and in seconds the spinnaker was flying free in front of the fore stay. We managed to get it down and started studying what had happened. Conclusion: the sheet of the spinnaker had snapped. Rope made of spectra, material stronger than steel. The wear of two weeks of almost constant pressure on the sail had done its work. No more spinnaker. Nothing could threaten our victory in sailing time, but the win with handicap was not anymore in our own hands.
Odottavan aika on pitkä. Time goes slowly for the waiting one. Today nobody slept after the sunrise – except Iiro of course. After the sunset at 6 pm the whole crew was on deck. Watching the lights of St. Lucia grow bigger. In silence. For 3,5 hours. Finally after 9 pm we passed the Pigeon Island and turned towards the harbour. At 21.34 we crossed the finish line. 15 days, 12 h and 34 minutes. It was a great moment. We had done it. The whole crew cheered and congratulated each other.
When approaching the dock, we were welcomed by my family: Josefin, Luna and Lucas. A happy reunion. Faithful to the Monomotapa customs we opened a bottle of spumante and celebrated our achievement.
- Hannu
6.12. Finlandia
A proper start for the independence day of Finland: Sibelius’ Finlandia played at full volume from the cockpit loudspeakers. The crew stands and listens silently to the beautiful and powerful piece of the heart of every Finn. At dinner the occasion was celebrated by singing the national hymn and enjoying a bottle of Pro Secco. Food was decorated with small Finnish flags.
The tropical weather has shown us it’s both sides. Most of the time it is just extremely hot and sunny. In the nights this is accompanied by local showers that are driven by quite aggressive winds. Pasi wrote yesterday about our first experiences. To avoid similar situations we had today a holy sacrifice ceremony where we offered our best delicacies, aged rum and English chocolate biscuits, to Ahti, the old Finnish pagan God of the sea. I guess our offers did not satisfy him, because the next night we were constantly hit by strong squalls. We had decided to drive with main and genoa on the boom (butterfly), so this was not a problem.
What can men do when they start to get bored on a boat. They start gambling. Alberto, Andrea and Paco have played card every day, but now the Finnish team introduced Texas Hold’m. When I collected the money, the jealous put it on my luck. I do have to admit that I have won all lotteries that we have had on boat, but poker is not about luck, right. The most interesting bet we have is about the arrival time. The bet was made when we still had 700 miles left. It was interesting to hear the different approaches people had for ending up with a specific time.
With 200 miles left, peoples mind start to wonder to St. Lucia. I am very much looking forward to seeing Josefin, Luna and Lucas waving at us as we come to the harbour. Our estimated time of arrival is Monday evening. Hopefully not too late for the kids to come and meet us.
- Hannu
The tropical weather has shown us it’s both sides. Most of the time it is just extremely hot and sunny. In the nights this is accompanied by local showers that are driven by quite aggressive winds. Pasi wrote yesterday about our first experiences. To avoid similar situations we had today a holy sacrifice ceremony where we offered our best delicacies, aged rum and English chocolate biscuits, to Ahti, the old Finnish pagan God of the sea. I guess our offers did not satisfy him, because the next night we were constantly hit by strong squalls. We had decided to drive with main and genoa on the boom (butterfly), so this was not a problem.
What can men do when they start to get bored on a boat. They start gambling. Alberto, Andrea and Paco have played card every day, but now the Finnish team introduced Texas Hold’m. When I collected the money, the jealous put it on my luck. I do have to admit that I have won all lotteries that we have had on boat, but poker is not about luck, right. The most interesting bet we have is about the arrival time. The bet was made when we still had 700 miles left. It was interesting to hear the different approaches people had for ending up with a specific time.
With 200 miles left, peoples mind start to wonder to St. Lucia. I am very much looking forward to seeing Josefin, Luna and Lucas waving at us as we come to the harbour. Our estimated time of arrival is Monday evening. Hopefully not too late for the kids to come and meet us.
- Hannu
07/12/2009
5.12. Another day at the office
At 2 AM on Friday morning Karri and I went up to the deck and took over the helm. Tired, very tired. The sea was rough and the night was dark. The fact that there were only 500 miles to go cheered us up. We definitely still wanted to win our class and kept the spinnaker up. Untouchables. Due to tiredness I decided to turn on the autopilot, which we call Helminen. Helminen was after all considered to be a better and safer option than driving by hand in the darkness. It should also be able to steer more accurately to the target.
I listened to Kari Peitsamo’s Kauppaopiston naiset from Iiro’s Ipod. Every now and then I had to correct the spinnaker and told Karri to take a rest. Another wave and another correction - another slightly higher wave and the correction didn’t work. Second attempt and the spinnaker was still a mess. I shouted Karri for help. Within only a few seconds the spinnaker was totally messed up around the rolled jib.
Caramello, bra, rintsikat of the century; Ui saatana! of the journey. “This is the end of our spinnaker”, I thought as the wind picked up and the sail made enormous noise. The entire crew woke up, orders were shouted. Paco and Andrea screamed commands in return - only Olli slept through it all. For the next three and a half hours we worked very hard on the dark deck and finally managed to get the spinnaker down and jib up. All this without anyone overboard and without any major damages. Amazing!
Sun rose, we were all taking a breath. Sweaty, tired and relieved. Also Olli got up at this point and - true to his character - suggested hoisting the spinnaker again. Not all agreed with this idea at first, but pretty soon we all thought that it would be the best way to get over the scary experience and within minutes the old troublemaker was up again. Forza Monomotapa!
I regained my composure and confidence during the day. Fast forward to next night. When Karri and I took over the helm around 11 PM on Saturday night, we noticed a dark cloud behind us. Paco was with us this time. I was on the helm steering the boat. Just as Karri said that nothing could stop us from getting to St Lucia on Monday, the wind picked up and within few seconds the rain started and a sudden squall hit us. Big time!
Wind was everywhere, wind speed 20 meters per second. Paco shouted “Katastrof!”All of a sudden despite loosening the sheets (or skuutit in Finnish) Monomotapa was riding on its side tilting almost ninety degrees with main sail hitting the water. Somehow we all succeeded in hanging on. I held on to the helm, Karri to the ropes, Paco to who-knows-what.
It is impossible to say whether it lasted only for seconds or for minutes (but it sure felt like minutes!), but then – like in a beautiful fairy tale – Monomotapa rose up like Phoenix from the ashes. Screaming, shouting, weird faces. Spinnaker down! Main sail down! Amazingly nothing was damaged and within an hour Monomotapa was on the road again – this time with the jib and main hoisted. “Good spinnaker is a dead spinnaker”, I thought and tried to get some sleep.
Now we knew how to respect the Atlantic. This was an experience that I would have been happy to skip. I don’t think anyone of us slept peacefully for the rest of the night. Full Monty!
Pasi
Laziness is the worst enemy of the victory and the worst obstacle on the path to success. Last couples of days have been very quiet. Low winds and the burning sun have made me somewhat passive and lazy. You could almost hear the punishment coming…But all is well. Nothing broken and nobody hurt. The incidents were not anybody’s fault, but the collective Lutheran punishment for laziness. Friday’s total was ok - considering all the hassle. 180 miles in 24 hours, now leading our class with 8 miles.
Hannu
I listened to Kari Peitsamo’s Kauppaopiston naiset from Iiro’s Ipod. Every now and then I had to correct the spinnaker and told Karri to take a rest. Another wave and another correction - another slightly higher wave and the correction didn’t work. Second attempt and the spinnaker was still a mess. I shouted Karri for help. Within only a few seconds the spinnaker was totally messed up around the rolled jib.
Caramello, bra, rintsikat of the century; Ui saatana! of the journey. “This is the end of our spinnaker”, I thought as the wind picked up and the sail made enormous noise. The entire crew woke up, orders were shouted. Paco and Andrea screamed commands in return - only Olli slept through it all. For the next three and a half hours we worked very hard on the dark deck and finally managed to get the spinnaker down and jib up. All this without anyone overboard and without any major damages. Amazing!
Sun rose, we were all taking a breath. Sweaty, tired and relieved. Also Olli got up at this point and - true to his character - suggested hoisting the spinnaker again. Not all agreed with this idea at first, but pretty soon we all thought that it would be the best way to get over the scary experience and within minutes the old troublemaker was up again. Forza Monomotapa!
I regained my composure and confidence during the day. Fast forward to next night. When Karri and I took over the helm around 11 PM on Saturday night, we noticed a dark cloud behind us. Paco was with us this time. I was on the helm steering the boat. Just as Karri said that nothing could stop us from getting to St Lucia on Monday, the wind picked up and within few seconds the rain started and a sudden squall hit us. Big time!
Wind was everywhere, wind speed 20 meters per second. Paco shouted “Katastrof!”All of a sudden despite loosening the sheets (or skuutit in Finnish) Monomotapa was riding on its side tilting almost ninety degrees with main sail hitting the water. Somehow we all succeeded in hanging on. I held on to the helm, Karri to the ropes, Paco to who-knows-what.
It is impossible to say whether it lasted only for seconds or for minutes (but it sure felt like minutes!), but then – like in a beautiful fairy tale – Monomotapa rose up like Phoenix from the ashes. Screaming, shouting, weird faces. Spinnaker down! Main sail down! Amazingly nothing was damaged and within an hour Monomotapa was on the road again – this time with the jib and main hoisted. “Good spinnaker is a dead spinnaker”, I thought and tried to get some sleep.
Now we knew how to respect the Atlantic. This was an experience that I would have been happy to skip. I don’t think anyone of us slept peacefully for the rest of the night. Full Monty!
Pasi
Laziness is the worst enemy of the victory and the worst obstacle on the path to success. Last couples of days have been very quiet. Low winds and the burning sun have made me somewhat passive and lazy. You could almost hear the punishment coming…But all is well. Nothing broken and nobody hurt. The incidents were not anybody’s fault, but the collective Lutheran punishment for laziness. Friday’s total was ok - considering all the hassle. 180 miles in 24 hours, now leading our class with 8 miles.
Hannu
4.12. Rehab
The Finnish crew is a bunch of middle-age men who are used to control their life and the world around them. In 40 years they have collected a selection by more or less of severe obsessions and addictions - some of which are difficult to fulfill in the boat. The most common is not surprisingly addiction for mobile phones and laptops. The worst addicts are Pasi, Olli and - I guess I need to admit it - me.
Olli has tried to keep the phone habit by spending almost 1 000 euros on the satellite phone. Pasi secretly sneaks to his cabin every now and then to spend quality time with his laptop. I have been quite open about my problem. I keep my mobile phone with me all the time using the excuse that as the watch officer I need to know the passing of time at all times and for that purpose I use dear my Nokia. I also use my laptop daily for writing these blogs.
All you readers who know me are now thinking about something else. My chocolate cake, chocolate muffin, chocolate ice cream, chocolate anything habit. But you also know that I always come prepared. A central part of my luggage is a selection of chocolate biscuits; however I still have most of my chocolate left, since our Italian cuisine has included wonderful chocolate cakes and even chocolate ice cream.
Pasi lost the grip today on one of the worst possible addictions today. He remained in control until almost the end, but finally broke on Friday afternoon. He called his work. Only two hours separated him from the weekend and that godly feeling of being able to control your addiction. Our sympathies are with him.
Janne is the lucky one. Smoking pipe is a natural part of sailor’s life and can easily be sustained here as well. When he also has – with various excuses been able to triple his daily beer quota to three cans, his addictions are probably best served of the whole crew.
Karri is also doing fairly OK. Red wine is on offer at lunches and dinners, most of the time it is even Chianti. Half of his trouble package is taken by his travel humidor. He claims that he is about to stop smoking and therefore took with him a selection of quality cigars, which he is planning to smoke during the trip, but not buy any new ones. Well, he really is putting himself to a test. Cigar aficionado who is planning to stop smoking while travelling in the Caribbean? Good luck!
Iiro is sorry of his own. He has developed his own personal diet and healthcare program. To be able to follow it, he is travelling with an array of nutrients, vitamins and all kinds of pills. No wonder our captain calls him Mr Plastic Fantastic. I am sorry to say that Iiro’s fate has been the saddest of all. His no-carbon-hydrate-no-artificial-fat-principles have turned into double portions of pasta, white breda and chocolate cake.
Sailing-wise it has been a quiet day almost like there hasn’t been any sailing. There’s very little wind, but it is extremely hot. The crew has difficulties with sleeping. It must be around 35 degrees inside the boat and even hotter in sunshine on the deck. Our 24 hour result was what can be expected from these low winds, 159 miles. The two leading boats have now disappeared beyond the horizon and other yachts on the southern course are passing us by. Our main task is now very much defending the class lead of six miles we still hold.
Hannu
Olli has tried to keep the phone habit by spending almost 1 000 euros on the satellite phone. Pasi secretly sneaks to his cabin every now and then to spend quality time with his laptop. I have been quite open about my problem. I keep my mobile phone with me all the time using the excuse that as the watch officer I need to know the passing of time at all times and for that purpose I use dear my Nokia. I also use my laptop daily for writing these blogs.
All you readers who know me are now thinking about something else. My chocolate cake, chocolate muffin, chocolate ice cream, chocolate anything habit. But you also know that I always come prepared. A central part of my luggage is a selection of chocolate biscuits; however I still have most of my chocolate left, since our Italian cuisine has included wonderful chocolate cakes and even chocolate ice cream.
Pasi lost the grip today on one of the worst possible addictions today. He remained in control until almost the end, but finally broke on Friday afternoon. He called his work. Only two hours separated him from the weekend and that godly feeling of being able to control your addiction. Our sympathies are with him.
Janne is the lucky one. Smoking pipe is a natural part of sailor’s life and can easily be sustained here as well. When he also has – with various excuses been able to triple his daily beer quota to three cans, his addictions are probably best served of the whole crew.
Karri is also doing fairly OK. Red wine is on offer at lunches and dinners, most of the time it is even Chianti. Half of his trouble package is taken by his travel humidor. He claims that he is about to stop smoking and therefore took with him a selection of quality cigars, which he is planning to smoke during the trip, but not buy any new ones. Well, he really is putting himself to a test. Cigar aficionado who is planning to stop smoking while travelling in the Caribbean? Good luck!
Iiro is sorry of his own. He has developed his own personal diet and healthcare program. To be able to follow it, he is travelling with an array of nutrients, vitamins and all kinds of pills. No wonder our captain calls him Mr Plastic Fantastic. I am sorry to say that Iiro’s fate has been the saddest of all. His no-carbon-hydrate-no-artificial-fat-principles have turned into double portions of pasta, white breda and chocolate cake.
Sailing-wise it has been a quiet day almost like there hasn’t been any sailing. There’s very little wind, but it is extremely hot. The crew has difficulties with sleeping. It must be around 35 degrees inside the boat and even hotter in sunshine on the deck. Our 24 hour result was what can be expected from these low winds, 159 miles. The two leading boats have now disappeared beyond the horizon and other yachts on the southern course are passing us by. Our main task is now very much defending the class lead of six miles we still hold.
Hannu
3.12. Leadership over troubled waters
Sailing for the first time across the Atlantic is an experience you surely remember for the rest of your life, if not beyond. When our team of Finns prepared for this trip, we touched the issue of how competitively we would want to do it. For example, should we use spinnaker at nights or not? The arguments for not pushing the speed to the limit were mainly safety considerations. As a solution we now have a veto policy on any safety issues. If one of the guys on the watch doesn't want us to do something - for example raise a big sail at night - we won't do it.
I personally got a great picture of our captain Alberto already before the race - both as a character and as captured with my Canon Power Shot camera. He is fond of racing hard but at the same time he listens to his crew and makes decisions based on their judgment. We all consider him the charismatic leader of this boat.
We all have special roles. Mine includes being the official photographer. So far I’ve taken over 1 000 pictures with my new Canon. I have to confess that it is not easy any more finding new ideas and angles for the pictures. I have tested all there is: sea, clouds, night, day, action and so on. We will publish a web-link for pictures in this blog before Christmas.
Unfortunately it seems that the risks of the northern route are materializing. We have been stuck for more than 24 hours in light and variable wind. Our greatest problem is that by now we have lost almost 100 miles to the leading boats that are cruising more south. According to the limited weather information we have, we should already be sailing with satisfactory seven to eight meters per second east-northeast wind, but it ain’t here yet. In leader board it starts to look ugly. During last 24 hours we covered only a pitiful 127 miles. The previous number two has taken the lead in the race. It won us by a crushing 35 miles. The previous leader, now holding the second position, won us by 26 miles. The new leader is now 70 miles and the second boat 50 miles ahead of us. Fortunately we still lead our own class by eight miles.
Our decision on course strategy and navigating straight on a run line to St. Lucia was affected by the fact that we lost our navigation and communication computer on day three. Navigation itself is not a problem, we have maps and many GPS instruments still on board and there are no rocks you could hit before we arrive in the Rodney Bay harbor. The biggest challenge on computer failure is that we lost all weather information that is essential in predicting changes in the wind and coming low-pressures. Needless to say, this is crucial for the course tactics decisions on a day-to-day basis.
When stuck on the almost calm winds of the Atlantic, we have more time for taking it easy. We spotted a whale, and we had time to celebrate Janne's 41st birthday starting at the breakfast. Pasi and Hannu had a plan to serve breakfast to Janne's bed but the rest of us did not any point in that since his bed is only 55cm from the breakfast table. Anyway, Janne was the first to wake up in the morning. The highlight of the celebration was the lunch. We had roast beef and red wine sauce with grilled aubergine, zuccini and pepperoni. For dessert we had ice cream with ice-cold Spumante.
In the morning when the boat was not moving more than 3 knots, I had time to scan through the book on ocean sailing. We got good laugh when finding out that we are close to the high pressure of the so called Horse Latitudes. It is an area between North Atlantic trade winds that get you back to Europe and Southern trade winds that get you to the Caribbean. 500 years ago sailors did not know this ocean weather phenomenon existed, and ships wandered from the trade routes in to the calm center area between the trade winds. As the ships’ drinking water begun to run out, they threw their horses overboard to conserve their own life supplies – hence the name.
Humans are adaptive – that has been proven again. When boarding Monomotapa in Las Palmas we all wanted to get safely to the other side and have an experience of a lifetime. But when - after only four days of sailing – we found ourselves among the top five boats, our appetite for racing grew and we could almost see the trophy in our hands. During the last 24 hours we again haven’t talked so much about the competition. There was a birthday celebration and we’ve had some good philosophical and political talks, good and bad jokes. As we have been building our team spirit and camaraderie, we have also realized that whatever our final position in this race will be, the journey itself is the Numero Uno trophy.
Olli
I personally got a great picture of our captain Alberto already before the race - both as a character and as captured with my Canon Power Shot camera. He is fond of racing hard but at the same time he listens to his crew and makes decisions based on their judgment. We all consider him the charismatic leader of this boat.
We all have special roles. Mine includes being the official photographer. So far I’ve taken over 1 000 pictures with my new Canon. I have to confess that it is not easy any more finding new ideas and angles for the pictures. I have tested all there is: sea, clouds, night, day, action and so on. We will publish a web-link for pictures in this blog before Christmas.
Unfortunately it seems that the risks of the northern route are materializing. We have been stuck for more than 24 hours in light and variable wind. Our greatest problem is that by now we have lost almost 100 miles to the leading boats that are cruising more south. According to the limited weather information we have, we should already be sailing with satisfactory seven to eight meters per second east-northeast wind, but it ain’t here yet. In leader board it starts to look ugly. During last 24 hours we covered only a pitiful 127 miles. The previous number two has taken the lead in the race. It won us by a crushing 35 miles. The previous leader, now holding the second position, won us by 26 miles. The new leader is now 70 miles and the second boat 50 miles ahead of us. Fortunately we still lead our own class by eight miles.
Our decision on course strategy and navigating straight on a run line to St. Lucia was affected by the fact that we lost our navigation and communication computer on day three. Navigation itself is not a problem, we have maps and many GPS instruments still on board and there are no rocks you could hit before we arrive in the Rodney Bay harbor. The biggest challenge on computer failure is that we lost all weather information that is essential in predicting changes in the wind and coming low-pressures. Needless to say, this is crucial for the course tactics decisions on a day-to-day basis.
When stuck on the almost calm winds of the Atlantic, we have more time for taking it easy. We spotted a whale, and we had time to celebrate Janne's 41st birthday starting at the breakfast. Pasi and Hannu had a plan to serve breakfast to Janne's bed but the rest of us did not any point in that since his bed is only 55cm from the breakfast table. Anyway, Janne was the first to wake up in the morning. The highlight of the celebration was the lunch. We had roast beef and red wine sauce with grilled aubergine, zuccini and pepperoni. For dessert we had ice cream with ice-cold Spumante.
In the morning when the boat was not moving more than 3 knots, I had time to scan through the book on ocean sailing. We got good laugh when finding out that we are close to the high pressure of the so called Horse Latitudes. It is an area between North Atlantic trade winds that get you back to Europe and Southern trade winds that get you to the Caribbean. 500 years ago sailors did not know this ocean weather phenomenon existed, and ships wandered from the trade routes in to the calm center area between the trade winds. As the ships’ drinking water begun to run out, they threw their horses overboard to conserve their own life supplies – hence the name.
Humans are adaptive – that has been proven again. When boarding Monomotapa in Las Palmas we all wanted to get safely to the other side and have an experience of a lifetime. But when - after only four days of sailing – we found ourselves among the top five boats, our appetite for racing grew and we could almost see the trophy in our hands. During the last 24 hours we again haven’t talked so much about the competition. There was a birthday celebration and we’ve had some good philosophical and political talks, good and bad jokes. As we have been building our team spirit and camaraderie, we have also realized that whatever our final position in this race will be, the journey itself is the Numero Uno trophy.
Olli
2.12. 15 square meters, 9 men, 9 opinions, 3 languages, 2 cultures
From the very beginning this has been a very good team. After spending ten days with nine men in just 15 square meters space, you start to know each other. In this Love Boat you cannot hide, escape or withdraw from anything that happens onboard. There is no out of sight, out of mind. Nine men, three languages, two cultures: one 15 square meter melting pot. You share the ups and downs, you share the smell of dirty clothes, the noise of your snoring mate, the good and bad jokes, one toilet, one outdoor shower and Olli and I even share the same bed.
Evidently one’s mal organisé becomes everybody’s mess. Still there is no whining. Clearly we are not here to complain and there really is nothing to complain about. Sailing is great, weather varying, food excellent and the team just keeps getting better and better. Just when the mood is getting somewhat melancholic, the captain brings up a bottle of Spumante or then a sudden gale or shower clears us up.
From good to great
So, what is it that makes teams like this to grow from good to great? Same mission. First, it appears that everyone on board have the same basic idea about the journey. This is not an easy biscuit and all have done their preparatory work well. Each and everyone is clearly oriented to get the job done and get across the Atlantic.
One captain.
Alberto is not only the captain and owner of our boat, but he is also a charismatic leader. His sense of humor, attitude and easiness brings calm. So far, so good. Then there are eight first officers – no primadonnas. Let's make one thing clear: there is not one member in the team that would not like to make and take decisions. When considering tactics, maneuvers, strategy, dividing tasks and taking actions there are no lack of opinions.
However, respect of others as well as common interest in tactics drives the team to debates, discussions and sometimes even arguments. Most often this decision making process leads to well optimized decisions. Sometimes it may result in compromises that are less good and sometimes it makes some of us to think of the negative side of democracy and perhaps long for work where oneself is the decision maker.
Combination of Italians and Finns
Never thought about it before, Italians and Finns could be difficult to put together.
Rational and introvert Finns probably compliment well talkative and temperament Italians.
Most likely Italians laugh at Finns as the later take a naked shower on the deck, run around in their underwear, take three to five vitamin pills a day and are able to be silent for four hours straight during the night shift. In return Finns can't stop admiring the style and the cooking and laugh at their jokes at the dinner table. Yes, we look different, we sound different and we act different. What a match! Now that days and nights are really hot, there’s only 800 miles to go, the race is getting tough and weather more challenging, we need every drop of the Italian-Finnish greatness. And Pronto, perkele!
Pasi
Sic transit Gloria mundi
Today has been extremely difficult. Wind has been on the side for more than 24 hours and we have had difficulties in getting the speed out of it. We have tried different main, jib, gennaker and spinnaker combinations, but none seem to work. When the 24 hour results came in, we knew to expect the worst. Our 174 miles will certainly not keep us in the battle for the gold.
This was confirmed by the results from the other boats. We lost six miles to the leader and 25 miles to the second and after that things have only gone worse. Right now we are in almost stand-still and guys are talking about going swimming. Nice experience of course, but we would all rather be flying the spinnaker at 15 meters per second wind heading towards St. Lucia. The only consolation is that we are not the only ones suffering from the lack of wind. At least all the boats in the northern route share the same fate. In the worst case this means that the wind works like security car in Formula 1 races, collecting all the boats together and making us start the race practically from the beginning again. Tomorrow we’ll see.
Hannu
Evidently one’s mal organisé becomes everybody’s mess. Still there is no whining. Clearly we are not here to complain and there really is nothing to complain about. Sailing is great, weather varying, food excellent and the team just keeps getting better and better. Just when the mood is getting somewhat melancholic, the captain brings up a bottle of Spumante or then a sudden gale or shower clears us up.
From good to great
So, what is it that makes teams like this to grow from good to great? Same mission. First, it appears that everyone on board have the same basic idea about the journey. This is not an easy biscuit and all have done their preparatory work well. Each and everyone is clearly oriented to get the job done and get across the Atlantic.
One captain.
Alberto is not only the captain and owner of our boat, but he is also a charismatic leader. His sense of humor, attitude and easiness brings calm. So far, so good. Then there are eight first officers – no primadonnas. Let's make one thing clear: there is not one member in the team that would not like to make and take decisions. When considering tactics, maneuvers, strategy, dividing tasks and taking actions there are no lack of opinions.
However, respect of others as well as common interest in tactics drives the team to debates, discussions and sometimes even arguments. Most often this decision making process leads to well optimized decisions. Sometimes it may result in compromises that are less good and sometimes it makes some of us to think of the negative side of democracy and perhaps long for work where oneself is the decision maker.
Combination of Italians and Finns
Never thought about it before, Italians and Finns could be difficult to put together.
Rational and introvert Finns probably compliment well talkative and temperament Italians.
Most likely Italians laugh at Finns as the later take a naked shower on the deck, run around in their underwear, take three to five vitamin pills a day and are able to be silent for four hours straight during the night shift. In return Finns can't stop admiring the style and the cooking and laugh at their jokes at the dinner table. Yes, we look different, we sound different and we act different. What a match! Now that days and nights are really hot, there’s only 800 miles to go, the race is getting tough and weather more challenging, we need every drop of the Italian-Finnish greatness. And Pronto, perkele!
Pasi
Sic transit Gloria mundi
Today has been extremely difficult. Wind has been on the side for more than 24 hours and we have had difficulties in getting the speed out of it. We have tried different main, jib, gennaker and spinnaker combinations, but none seem to work. When the 24 hour results came in, we knew to expect the worst. Our 174 miles will certainly not keep us in the battle for the gold.
This was confirmed by the results from the other boats. We lost six miles to the leader and 25 miles to the second and after that things have only gone worse. Right now we are in almost stand-still and guys are talking about going swimming. Nice experience of course, but we would all rather be flying the spinnaker at 15 meters per second wind heading towards St. Lucia. The only consolation is that we are not the only ones suffering from the lack of wind. At least all the boats in the northern route share the same fate. In the worst case this means that the wind works like security car in Formula 1 races, collecting all the boats together and making us start the race practically from the beginning again. Tomorrow we’ll see.
Hannu
1.12. 200 miles!!!
I have been secretly looking forward to experiencing what it is like when you sail in really high winds and mountainous waves that break behind the boat and soak you. Tonight we finally got something in that direction, but I missed it as I was off-watch and asleep.
Our course towards St. Lucia is currently a bit uncomfortable. Wind is at about 140-150 degrees from the bow - a little too much for the spinnaker, but too little for the jib. We drove half of the night with spinnaker at constant 10+ knots, but when the wind started to be steadily over 13 meters per second we decided to take it down. A beautiful maneuver straight from a study book and well timed. Half an hour later the wind was peaking at 18 meters per second. That is when Andrea got a shower from behind while at the helm.
Today seemed to become the first day with unstable weather and wind. When the morning broke spirits were very high. To start the day Janne clocked 14.7 knots with the main and jib with boom forming a butterfly or prayer book (virsikirja), as we say in Finland – a record speed so far without the spinnaker. We had pushed hard in varying conditions and the magical 200 miles as one day’s distance seemed achievable.
Unfortunately the weather continued to be unstable and soon a rain shower brought the wind down to 5-8 meters per second before peaking up again. Only 15 minutes before the timeline everyone was cheering that we will achieve the 200 mile target but then things started to happen. We got our first squall. First the wind died completely. During the next minute it turned 360 degrees. We all were holding our breath. Then it started to peak up and soon reached the normal 10 meters per second. What is most important, it stabilized in the same direction as it was before.
I went down to look at the GPS for the result, and YES! We had just reached 200 miles in 24 hours. The whole crew cheered. A few hours later there was even more reason for cheering. Results from the whole fleet showed we had caught the leader by 12 miles, now being only 28 miles behind. Even more intriguingly we won the 2nd by 6 miles and are now equal with them.
This showed that when we push hard we can challenge the leaders and it gave us a lot of self-confidence.
Hannu
Our course towards St. Lucia is currently a bit uncomfortable. Wind is at about 140-150 degrees from the bow - a little too much for the spinnaker, but too little for the jib. We drove half of the night with spinnaker at constant 10+ knots, but when the wind started to be steadily over 13 meters per second we decided to take it down. A beautiful maneuver straight from a study book and well timed. Half an hour later the wind was peaking at 18 meters per second. That is when Andrea got a shower from behind while at the helm.
Today seemed to become the first day with unstable weather and wind. When the morning broke spirits were very high. To start the day Janne clocked 14.7 knots with the main and jib with boom forming a butterfly or prayer book (virsikirja), as we say in Finland – a record speed so far without the spinnaker. We had pushed hard in varying conditions and the magical 200 miles as one day’s distance seemed achievable.
Unfortunately the weather continued to be unstable and soon a rain shower brought the wind down to 5-8 meters per second before peaking up again. Only 15 minutes before the timeline everyone was cheering that we will achieve the 200 mile target but then things started to happen. We got our first squall. First the wind died completely. During the next minute it turned 360 degrees. We all were holding our breath. Then it started to peak up and soon reached the normal 10 meters per second. What is most important, it stabilized in the same direction as it was before.
I went down to look at the GPS for the result, and YES! We had just reached 200 miles in 24 hours. The whole crew cheered. A few hours later there was even more reason for cheering. Results from the whole fleet showed we had caught the leader by 12 miles, now being only 28 miles behind. Even more intriguingly we won the 2nd by 6 miles and are now equal with them.
This showed that when we push hard we can challenge the leaders and it gave us a lot of self-confidence.
Hannu
30.11. The heat is on
We are starting to feel the tropical heat. It is extremely hot in the constant sunshine on the deck and even worse inside the boat. The Finnish saying:”Hiki laiskan syödessä”- or “a lazy man sweats when eating” - is more than true. You sweat from just lying on your bed, which makes it difficult to sleep. Correct wear for the night watch is T-shirt and shorts. My favorite time of the day is late afternoon when the sun is behind the sails and you can lay in their shadow on the deck.
Today’s result was 192 miles - a slight disappointment. 200 miles has become a milestone we want to achieve. Also our push to reach our competitors was not as successful as we had hoped for. We lost another two miles to the overall leader and six miles to the boat on the second place. On the positive side, our leader position in our own class is getting stronger and stronger. With the race intensifying and the time for choosing the final tactics approaching the debate about the right tactics and strategy is sometimes getting heated.
This is only among us Finns, of course. Our captain is as calm as ever.
When I told a friend of mine before the race who were going to be in the crew, his immediate comment was that there are too many leaders - who will do the real work? And here we are: everyone has their opinion about the right tactics - and in the meantime, we are not able to drive fast enough to reach the competition. Today we had a two hours discussion about whether to jibe now and head southwest to get closer to the competitors - or to keep the current course to northwest and wait for a possible change in wind. This time the debate was solved by shifting wind and we made our first jibe in three days. We are now heading southwest closer to our competitors, and most importantly directly towards St. Lucia. At dinner it was time for festivities: Andrea's name day - another good reason to celebrate.
Hannu
Today’s result was 192 miles - a slight disappointment. 200 miles has become a milestone we want to achieve. Also our push to reach our competitors was not as successful as we had hoped for. We lost another two miles to the overall leader and six miles to the boat on the second place. On the positive side, our leader position in our own class is getting stronger and stronger. With the race intensifying and the time for choosing the final tactics approaching the debate about the right tactics and strategy is sometimes getting heated.
This is only among us Finns, of course. Our captain is as calm as ever.
When I told a friend of mine before the race who were going to be in the crew, his immediate comment was that there are too many leaders - who will do the real work? And here we are: everyone has their opinion about the right tactics - and in the meantime, we are not able to drive fast enough to reach the competition. Today we had a two hours discussion about whether to jibe now and head southwest to get closer to the competitors - or to keep the current course to northwest and wait for a possible change in wind. This time the debate was solved by shifting wind and we made our first jibe in three days. We are now heading southwest closer to our competitors, and most importantly directly towards St. Lucia. At dinner it was time for festivities: Andrea's name day - another good reason to celebrate.
Hannu
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