And they're off

Paul Larsen describes day one of Raw Nerve's round Australia record attempt

Sailing along north east of Eden may be considered the usual route for most sailors from these parts to get to Hobart. Hobart is where we are headed - trouble is that it is directly behind us and we are northbound. We humans tend to make a habit of making our lives difficult. We chose Tasmania as the starting point for our 'around Australia record' attempt for a number of reasons not the least being that it would give us some control over the weather with which we would cross the infamous Bass Strait.

We trucked across yesterday in 25 to 35 knots on the beam. This makes for wet sailing no matter what type of boat you sail. There was a confused chop which didn't help but all the same we sat around 18 knots for the larger part of it. The forward structure sure was moving a lot of water out the way.

The boat is performing well but it does feel a little heavy under the burden of the necessary provisions for the trip. We have sailed into lighter headwinds now which have us 30 or so degrees east of course approaching Sydney. It is a glorious night outside under the Southern cross. We have not seen a ship since we started and apart from a close encounter with a whale which we had to quickly avoid, the ocean is ours to enjoy.

Raw Nerve goes well upwind due probably to the longitudinal stiffness of its layout, a very efficient rig and nine feet deep daggerboards. The layout of the boat is unconventional for a cat of this size and type in that the rig is stepped on the pod between two beams and not on a central beam. Whilst the emphasis is very much on performance, the pod provides a level of comfort and space normally reserved for much bigger boats. You don't get much of a sensation of speed in your bunk as the deep 'V' underneath slices through the waves.

Yesterday's beam seas did provide a couple of teeth rattlers but it's still a nice way to sail. The depth of the pod also means that it takes the compressive forces of the 87 foot carbon rig well and the mainsheet/forestay tension relationship is more akin to a trimaran than to the indirect routing of loads normally associated with cats. The boat is very stiff. I like the idea of cats having something in place for this purpose.

Right now our major concern is the water maker which right now - isn't. It is a new unit that had some installation issues involving some pretty relaxed electricians who seemed to do everything but actually get it going. Now I'm as Australian as the best of them but sometimes that 'you'll be right' attitude can be a pain in the arse. A watermaker is usually a pretty basic stand alone system but for some reason it has been complicated and now it does everything but make water. Sure, it did in the test, it even did yesterday. But today when we flipped the switch and asked it the question... it flipped us the bird right back!

Luckily we filled all the cans before we left in case of just such an event but that still only leaves us with a few days of rationed water. Hopefully tomorrow we can resolve it otherwise the trip will take on a new angle and you'll have to standby to see if 'we'll be right' or not. Apart from that there are a couple of halyard chafe issues to be addressed and the fuel/battery scenario will require the usual attention but that's about it for now as we settle into the trip. Roger 'Clouds' Badham has warned us of light winds tomorrow as we got up here a little quicker than expected. Once through that we should be flying up towards the SE tradewinds up North.

We had a visitor before we departed in the form of Ian Johnstone who together with Cathy Hawkins raced BullFrog Sunblock/Verbatim in the Bicentennial race against Peter Blake's Steinlager trimaran. They got around in 37 days but had some stops on the way and thus did not qualify for WSSRC purposes. Steinlager did the course in 34 days and although this is not the official record, it is our target to beat. Ian gave us a signed picture of BullFrog which we have taped to the bulkhead. Always was a good looking boat that one. Hopefully at the end of this trip we can return the favour and give him a signed picture of Raw Nerve which will be of signifigance. That, though my friends, is still 6000 odd miles and a whole lot of obstacles away. Normally sailors are a bit thirsty at the end of such a trip at the best of times. With the current water maker issues, the crew on 'Raw Nerve' may be doubly so.

GETUPIT! Larso.