Well begun is half done

29 July 2015

We planned to start late in the ‘window’ and we succeeded. With only two seconds left the ‘Oosterschelde’ sailed over the starting line. The course to the fist waypoint was downwind, which is never very fast. So it seemed logical, with the little wind that was predicted, to choose a course along the Norwegian coast, in order to use the current as much as possible. But we steered a bit more off the coast, so later, with a backing wind, we wouldn’t have to sail downwind to the south.
So we started broad reach over starboard and jibed as soon as the wind had shifted far enough. All the ships that chose the coastal route did not make any progress while we sailed with a fine speed. It was still exciting because the wind backed, so the question was whether we were able to reach the waypoint. But we made it! YES!! We jibed immediately and sailed towards the next point. We spent the night with variable winds and lots of rain but we defended our position. 
Just now there is a bit of wind, so we jibed again and set all the sails. We are now sailing under full sail doing 6-7 knots. It seems that it will not take very long for the wind to die down, so we try to make the most of it while the wind is still here. 
In a few minutes we will receive a new weather report, so we can update our tactics for the next few hours.. To be continued!