Following victory for ’40 Degrees’ at her maiden event in September 2009, and a respectable 7th place finish in the Solidaire du Chocolat, transatlantic race from France to Mexico, the team is looking forward to a diverse 2010 season. Regular updates can be found here.
RORC Caribbean 600
Date: 01/03/2010
It was with great regret that 40 Degrees had to retire from the RORC Caribbean 600. After a superb first two days of racing, where we had managed to open a decent lead over our Class40 rivals, the wind went on holiday. Like many other smaller boats, we reluctantly made our way back to Antigua. Here is an extract of the blog from the last day of racing:
We had another long day today, the bulk of it spent in French territorial waters on the South coast of Guadeloupe. We had a visit from a smart naval vessel to prove it. We left you yesterday morning after doing our four pirouettes in the vortex currents off Les Saintes in Guadeloupe's South West corner. Two more 360s and 24 hours later we have left the South coast at the island of La Desirade and are heading for our penultimate corner, the second rounding of the North Sails inflatable mark, just South of Antigua's sister island, Barbuda, 90 miles to the North. Thence, it will be to Redonda and the finish at Antigua's Fort Charlotte.
We have had more challenging light airs, a mixture of beating, running and plain doing nothing - waiting for wind to relieve us from the merciless sun - and the pain of watching the boats catch us from behind, including our Class 40 sole remaining rival, the two-man Tradition Guadeloupe. At one stage, we had been 22 miles ahead of her. She has a formidable reputation and her crew and auto pilot have clearly been working hard.
Other low moments included the calculation of an estimated time to finish of
12 March - a fortnight hence! This was the result of the GPS's extrapolation after a slow hour and has triggered a discussion our food and drink supplies, on the fate of the prize giving party and our rum punches, on the obligations awaiting us on our originally scheduled returns home and on whether we should join our other rival, Ocean Warrior, as one of a number of retirals. John Patrick has a speaking commitment in Cambridge on Saturday night and a Friday night flight to meet it. Niall must be back at
work on Monday - the FTSE has taken a dive in his absence. Boydy,
unsympathetically, says that he never retires... Miranda is a mermaid and blissful at sea. Meeting adjourned whilst we await the arrival of Miranda's improved weather prediction.
We note that the sailing instructions state that there is no time limit and no facility to shorten the course. We speculate about the possibility of a future discretionary course - allowing the Race Committee to drop or add whole countries as course marks - ' ...it's too light, forget the second circumnavigation of Antigua' or ' there's plenty of wind, shall we throw in Barbados, that'd be fun'.
Our highlights have included our still delicious Fusion freeze-dried food and yesterday's communion with some of the ocean's great creatures - a mother whale and her baby and a flock (correct collective noun?) of flying fish.
We leave you on our fourth (unplanned) night, with still some 200 miles to go beating at 6 knots in a lifting breeze that, we hope, will allow us to free sheets for Redonda and to catch our close rival. Our track shows a pretty chain bracket to record a significant wind shift and tack. Tonight, Castor and Pollux, guide us North.
Michael Boyd
0200
26 February 2010
Our high points have included our communion with the sea's creatures - a whale and baby this morning and flying fish tonight. Once again, the beautiful sky has unwrapped it treasures and Castor and Pollux have been guiding us tonight.
