We have been in a heavy-weight prize fight for days now. Today we sailed back into third and then amazingly blew up our big spinnaker when sailing downwind just after the Rotterdam loop. Following that, a chain reaction occurred and the culmination of it all is that we have made a complete split from the fleet and we are left hoping beyond hope that this new tactic works.

After the chute exploded we had to put up smaller sails and in turn we had to sail a higher course than the rest of the fleet. We aren’t allowed to carry extra big spinnakers and so when that sail goes you are in trouble. It just broke, right below the head patch, with absolutely no warning. So, we simply lost touch with the rest of the fleet by sailing higher. We worked the boat all morning as hard as we could to stay in touch with the small storm spinnaker. Then all of a sudden the wind started to lighten. You’d think a quick jibe to sail out of the light air and then you’d be back into the pressure right? No problem, still plenty of wind? And actually a good shift to jibe on. Wrong. It got lighter…then lighter…and before you knew it we were drifting. The center of the low had engulfed us. Unreal.

So now our best hope is to try and punch through the center of the low and wait for the rest of the group to hit their light air eventually. We simply can’t get back to where the rest of the fleet is so drastic action unfortunately is required. It may work, it may not. We will keep fighting though…

It is interesting how many times the most obvious tactical move may not be made by a certain boat, and almost always there is a good explanation as to how or why the decision was made. And most often that decision is because there was something out of the ordinary that happened that simply changed the way you had to play the game. We have had our fair share of tough breaks on this boat and they have routinely occurred at some pretty inopportune times. And the team always rallies to make the best of all situations and we typically have our best legs at that time.

We will just try to take it in our stride. It just hurts because this is exactly what we didn’t want to do. We had Telefonica Blue at the back of the fleet and we were making ground toward the front. Ouch.

We have to try and make the best of this. Sure, the team is down right now but all realize that we can’t quit and need to press on. Sometimes it just doesn’t go your way. Today may have been one of those days for us, as time will only tell.

-Kenny