July 22, 09:50 PST, Lat 29°55’N, Lon 134°40’W

This has been a wild night. Our dice are cast and we are betting on a Northerly route, close to our rumbline. For the next couple of days we will make losses and then our bet is that we will get both a big right shift, and more wind than the Southerly competitors.

The night started pitch black, with the moon rising later. Having gone through 4 degrees of longitude, everything happens a bit later out here, including the moon. No big deal. But then came squalls. Not one of them, but lines of them. Packing 25 knots of wind or more with massive holes in between. Now that’s a challenge for a double handed boat! We’ve seen boat speeds from 5 knots to sustained 21 knots with everything in between. Go figure, this was supposed to be a non–squally year. So much for the forecasts, we’re doing battle with North Pacific squalls on day three. So now we’re curious as to what was the lot of our Southerly competitors. Fifty miles South could make a huge difference.