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
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