Adrien survives upwind battering

Jean-Luc van den Heede reports from on board

Day 73
Position at 1300: 38°14S / 98°18E
Wind: 15 knots from SW, moderate sea.
Temperatures: day 14°C / night 14°C/ sea 14°C
Distance covered in the last 24 hours: 233 miles.
To the Cape of Good Hope 3,871 miles.
Lead over P. Monnet 18 days and 16 hours.

Hello

The weekend's bad weather is over now and Adrien got through it well. Even if she did slam down into the waves occasionally, as when the wind came around to the WSW, the waves were coming from the NW straight at the bow.

But everything is fine and when the boat lands heavily, I'm not as afraid as I was at the beginning, when I couldn't help thinking about losing my mast. The Nordic mast and the BSI rigging are behaving perfectly. As for the hull and the keel, they have also shown what they can stand up to. Let's just say that Adrien has got in a lot of practice now!

I do still hesitate quite often about whether to hoist more sail or keep things as they are...particularly when the wind is a sou'westerly in which case it doesn't blow steadily. So for half an hour I tell myself to go and hoist up the sail. Yesterday, I got on my boots and waterproofs, and by the time I'd got dressed, the wind had got up another 5 knots...too much to raise much more sail. I got undressed, thanking the wind for coming at that precise time, as otherwise I would have had to bring back in the reef I'd just shaken out. And I don't like that happening to me. It's very frustrating to have to bring in a sail that I've just struggled to get out!

See you tomorrow,

JL VDH

A day with the cuddly toy from the Lacroix company, placed on board Adrien by Idée d'image