Blog from Kinetic
by David Sutcliffe, July 19th, 2012
Our daily run for July 17 was 216 miles and the run for July 18 was 214.6 miles.
Everyone on board is well.
Continued strong trade winds are carrying us to Maui. At 1800 hrs HST, we have about 200 miles to go to the finish line. How long this takes, and when we will finish, depend on whether these winds continue thru the finish line, or whether we fall into one or more "wind holes", common behind squalls and close to Hawaii. We have provided the race committee with a preliminary ETA of July 19 at 1928 HST. The race standings are tight enough that it will be a nail-biter to the end!
At 2220 hrs (10:20 pm), a patiently circling seabird has crash-landed in our cockpit and is now taking a quiet rest and enjoying a free ride on Kinetic. We take this as a good omen.
NEWS FLASH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Land Ho! At 0750 HST, Adam calls out Land Ho! We have the big island of Hawaii and the island of Maui in sight.
Our good luck seabird rested with us in the cockpit for several hours overnight and then took flight into the pre-dawn light this morning.
Winds have been getting lighter, potentially slowing our final approach to the finish line. We are in a very tight race against the clock to get the best possible overall race result. It's going to be close!
We hope to finish this evening.
Kinetic is Goin' to Maui!