Blog from Kinetic

by David Sutcliffe, July 17th, 2012

A regular reader of Kinetic reports from past races has pointed out that the reports for this particular race have not included the ever popular feature "daily 24 hour run".  These are calculated in nautical miles as straight line distances from point to point.  The distance the boat actually sails is always longer, due to not sailing in a straight line.  A nautical mile is about 1.15 times longer than a statute (land) mile, and it is about 1.85 times longer than a kilometre.  The following are estimates, based on our daily roll call reports:

miles   24 hrs ending @ 1700 HST
183.6   Jul 08
205.1   Jul 09
221.6   Jul 10
218.2   Jul 11
210.2   Jul 12
177.6   Jul 13
187.6   Jul 14
201.3   Jul 15
200.0   Jul 16

Trade winds sailing:  warm day and night, mixed sun and clouds, some squalls with showers; rainbows; flying fish.  Rolling motion from the waves.  Wind mostly 14-18, spells of 18-25, gusts up to 28-30.   Masthead spinnaker, full main.

Late yesterday was almost calamitous.  We were blasting along at a good speed.  Winds were 20-25, gusting 30.  As preventative maintenance, we lowered the spinnaker, switched halyards and guys, re-hoisted the spinnaker, and patted ourselves on the back for good seamanship.  We repaired one of the spinnaker guys which was chafed.  A while later, and without warning, the same spinnaker exploded into strips of fabric and tape.  With some difficulty, and in the darkness of a nighttime squall, we hauled the remnants down.  In the chaos there was an accidental gybe.  One crew member got swatted on the head by the loaded mainsheet lines, hard enough that he had to take the rest of the night off and be monitored.  We hoisted a deliberately undersized reaching headsail, and loped along with the boat on a mostly even keel.  In these stronger than usual trade winds, being underpowered is nowhere near as big a speed penalty as one would think.  It's the hunt for the last 5-10% of speed that causes all the problems.  After attending to our crew, and sorting things out, and generally catching our breath, we changed from the reaching sail up to a spinnaker.  This morning, everyone and everything is OK.  And this afternoon, crew member "Heads Up" is back to driving like a banshee.

At 1800 hrs HST, we have about 400 miles to go to the finish line.

Kinetic is Goin' to Maui!

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