Golding takes lead

Powering south, a tight battle is going on in both monohull and multihull fleets reports James Boyd

From on board Alex Bennett's One Dream-One Mission Paul Larsen writes:

Holy smoke, what a great old day of flat out yachting! We were heading across Biscay on a heading of around 250 under the huge masthead kite that we affectionately call the 'Whompa'. Lee Bruce our weather router gave us a point to head for off Finnesterre which called for a gybe. Conditions built steadily as we approached the famous headland forcing us to hand steer most of the way. With this much sail area up it is always a case of the power being on or off. The auto pilot has a good nose but sometimes she needs eyes.
It has been a great sail for us dragging us into the lead on two occasions now. We carried her for a bit too long as the wind increased due to the effect of the rapidly approaching headland so decided to change down to the small kite. Once hoisted we noticed a large rip so we dropped that as well and went for the code zero..... which had a furler problem that took a wet and frustrating while to fix.

Once up we knew we had the right sail as the speed increased and the auto pilot regained control. Speed is constantly hitting mid-twenties with the best being 27 beautiful knots. This awesome little boat is in her element. The moon is lighting the way and the little kite is in the cabin drying out awaiting repair. Although I consider myself a one eyed multi hull sailor, I must admit that I'm having a bloody ball!

Paul Larsen