ATLANTIC ALGAE

08/12 at 16:30 UTC it’s my turn at the helm.

Wave after wave we arrived at 239 miles from Santa Lucia.

Since yesterday morning the sea has been crossed by brown algae which are putting our hydrogenerator to the test.

We wonder about their origin.

They come from land supports Lollo (Lorenzo Castaldo), who has already crossed the Caribbean in 2015 as the commander of a Azzurrè 40.

But “when ever” Caf (Luca Cafasso) corrects it the Atlantic currents move from east to west these are African algae and then you don’t see how dark they are.

Finally, Naples on deck agrees that this herb has a great appearance and consequently can only be from Nicaragua or Columbiana.

And so with the jib and mainsail we whiz towards the finish.

The competitive spirit of the early days (we were first in class for quite some time) was ditched by a terribly poorly built A4.

The ARC can be tackled in the most classic of stern gaits: butterfly with a tangled bow or in a more aggressive mode with spy and gennaker.

The butterfly is worse for a racing team than cheese on fish.

So Gennaker all my life and my decision to entrust Quantum with the construction of a generous and powerful A4.

The sail held up just long enough for me to enjoy a few hours at the helm with 20 – 22 knots of wind JK was running at 13.

On board, shaved heads and tattoos commemorating the victory began to be programmed.

All vanished in the night of the black kite.

I feel bad with the guys for not equipping JK with at least two heavy wind gennakers.

We tried to hoist an A2 (light wind gennaker) but after two hours of JK flying we had to give up.

The sail not suitable for Atlantic sailing has given way under the force of the wind and the sea.

It is necessary to create new stimuli and new perspectives to shift the focus from the sporting result to another.

But every 4 hours inexorably the ARC organization sends me an email with our ranking.

Without suitable sails we slide lower and lower.

Miky (Michele De Giovanni) highly decorated champion spurs the group.

Guys, the regatta is long, the one who holds out to the end wins.

Let’s not give up.

But tonight EH01 and Marko, our class opponents, have already crossed the finish line while we are here and we just have to wait for an internet connection to find out the true origin of the Atlantic algae.

Taken from the logbook of Luca Davoli commander of JK