Position: 35,54.75N , 5,32.15W
Speed: 13 knots, Course: 109 deg.
“It feels like after four days of sailing, someone or something is trying to stop us entering the Mediterranean Sea. We currently have 30 to 35 knots of wind, bang on the nose and steep seas to contend with. Sailing with 2 reefs and a number 4 jib, the boat seems well balanced and easy to steer but tacking back and forth across the Straits of Gibraltar is tough on the crew who seem to spend all day carting sails from one side of the boat to the other only to tack and have to do it all again - welcome to the world of Volvo Open 70 sailing. It is also quite a game dodging all the ships that steam through here and I am glad it is daytime and we are not relying on lights and radar. We have already had one very close call with a gas tanker called ‘Bow Sirius’ who were just crossing ahead of us on a converging course until she decided to slow right down. A last minute luff and dip behind allowed us to pass astern by a few lengths - not something you like to be cutting so fine - a bit of light hearted banter on the radio and we were both on our way. Our other close call was with a survey ship towing a 10km cable that we nearly crossed fortunately we had seen what looked like a life raft, and we were in the process of dropping the chute to investigate when we realised it was the end of the cable! The moral of the story was to keep the VHF radio turned up loud on 16.
I have just been on deck to see 10 - 15 pilot whales diving under our boat - maybe we are welcome here after all! What an amazing place the Straits of Gibraltar is. The winds funnel through the Straits between the high land either side and they then spread out either side thereafter. Jim Saltonstall would love trying to explain all these wind bends and local effects - but don’t worry Jim we are taking notes of wind patterns conscious that the next time we come through will be during leg 1 - the leg could well be won or lost right here. All we have to do now is another 300 miles up the coast to Alicante and if we time it right we should get to sail past Cartagena just in time to watch tomorrows TP52 races, we will be cheering on our navigator Ian Moore who is racing onboard Quantum Racing.
Arriving in the Med feels like another landmark occasion for this team and it is a fantastic feeling. I couldn’t be happier with the boat, team or crew that we have assembled. It is a privilege to be sailing with these guys and I am learning off them every day”.
