Morning Roll Call

Date: Saturday, July 13th
Lat: 35 47 North
Lon: 125 17 West
Course over ground: 18 degrees magnetic
Speed over ground: 19 knots

Mike and Doogie getting ready for a spinnaker change

As day broke we all waited for the 9 am PST roll call. We had lost track of our competitors and had found good wind. Fundamentally their size should make them average 1 knot per hour more than Pegasus 77 for the boats to be sailed equally. In other words, every day they should put 24 nautical miles between us, for us to be sailing our boats with equal skills, hard work and luck.

When the position reports came in we were north of both Zephyrus and Mari-Cha, with Mari-Cha ahead of Zephyrus. Pegasus was bow to bow with Mari-Cha on a line of equal position to Hawaii. Wow, what a morale booster. So here we are 7 nautical Miles north tight reaching and we decided to make our move: We put up our 5A spinnaker, and headed down 30 degrees to leverage our northern position. We’ll have to wait until tomorrow morning to find out where that will put us. In these 25 knot reaching conditions, the bigger boats should be able to take full advantage of their waterline.

Surfing contests

With the wind picking up to 25 knots and the kite up, the surfing contests started. Shark loved the fact that we were now going downwind and he started eating all that he had skipped. The happy prankster comes out when the kite is up!

We kept trading records throughout the day. Freddy, Richard Clarke, Zan, Jeff and I. I was fortunate to find a big roller right when a 29 knot puff hit and off we went; first wave, 24 knots, second wave, 25.5 knots, third wave, a big one, 25, 26, 26.2 and then 27.0. That is the record of the day. I have no doubt that it will be broken soon. This is just fantastic extreme sailing. And it’s going to get warmer every day!

Shark is on the grinder and he’s got a big 12 year old smile on his face. He keeps on saying: “This is just like my 29er, but much bigger!”

P.S. Note how on the display next to Doogie and Mike’s picture, Boat speed equals wind speed. These boats are fantastic!!!!