Banque Populaire V

Banque Populaire V

Wednesday 23 November 2011

Brian's First night at sea onboard Banque Populaire V

We are now tearing across the Bay of Biscay, boatspeed consistently above 30 knots since the start.

Not far from a gybe into Cape Finisterre, and the first part of the trip completed::

Its already starting to get slightly warmer on deck and we are just entering our second night at sea:

The first night was more peaceful, being towed around till midnight in a flat calm, and then hove to in light winds waiting for the wind to fill in at dawn.

The start was spectacular with rough seas off Ushant Island, the swell breaking on the overfalls and onto the jagged cliffs and outlying rocks.

Straight into the record we were doing 35 knots of speed with Loick on the helm, one reef, small gennaker and staysail..The seas were not too pleasant with a large swell on the beam, which gave some rough sailing for the boat and the crew.The seas are starting to line up with the wind now..We have gone to 2 reefs and then back to one reef.

The start reminded me of similar weather conditions when Orange1 started from Ushant, and after 10 minutes the top of their mast had broken off; and they had to pull out and repair it in 2 weeks, before restarting again..Florent Chastel, one of our bowman was on that trip, and it was good to chat about it..I also remember following it at the time, and then reading Nick Moloney's book 'Chasing the Dawn' about that adventure..

Hope you get this ok

Brian

1 comment:

  1. Got it buddy and looking for more!! Be well... AND FAST!! Looks like you're off to a good start!

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