Windy start of leg 2

I must admit my start was chaotic. And 25 knots was a bit too much for
my taste. And I was not the only one. I saw boats with water ballast on
the wrong side, reefs that wouldn't fit and so on. We first rounded a
buoy 1,7 miles out before heading down to the west. I did a storm round
in stead of a gybe. Along the islands winds were gusting up to 29 knots,
but plenty of sunshine too and a beautiful view on the island where we
had such a great week. During the evening things settled down and the
wind died out. On our way again!

Pap ik wil mee

Hard to resist the offer of my youngest daughter Janneke to join me on the return leg, but her mama insisted .. so back on my own now.

Full speed to the Azores

Some video images of the second day of leg1 from Home of Jazz. The NE winds provided excellent conditions during the first days of the race.

Mid Ocean pictures of Mainsail damage

As you can see the headboard and two sail battens are not anymore connected to the mast. I put more tension on the halyard to keep the sail closer to the mast. I was lucky to be able to fix this with just enough spares and a calm sea.

video's Home of Jazz leg 1

I just uploaded a number of videos from Home of Jazz leg 1, on YouTube. The start and some unedited ocean stuff.

Home of Jazz - becalmed near finish

Yesterday evening land in sight! Great view of the island from a
distance while the sun going down. At midnight I passed Caba Armel and
after that it became very difficult with the wind shadow of the Island.
At 05.00 the wind died out. Sails down at 06.00 and up again at 08.30.
Now fast approaching the finish line in drizzle. I expect some sunshine
when I get then in about 1,5 hours.

Home of Jazz - Glorious sunshine sailing

What a beautiful day! Blue sky, deep blue water, white foam and he
prospect of seeing the contours of Sao Miguel later today. Yesterday I
got too tired. Stupid mistake off course. I started making mistakes. But
after all the work being done the boat could sail at some speed through
the night while I was catching up sleep. Now feeling much better, reefed
out and full speed again. My boat is very dry but nevertheless
everything is rather wet on board.