Close Competition

Have just downloaded the positions as at 07:00 Wed 16th June. And it looks
like quite a close battle. The Shed is about 9 hours ahead and with her
slower rating puts her well out of our reach. But there are two other Class
3 boats within our reach - the J105 Taika ~9nm to the north of us and
Fastrack VII ~4nm also to the north. Which I think puts us 4th in Class 3.
So there is no let up for us as Trevor & I take turns to trim the sails and
keep Jangada going as fast as possible under spinnaker.

There are also a number of faster Class 2 boats around us - Richard House
Hospice, Thunder 2, Greyhound & Streamline, all of which give us time so we
should be ahead on handicap.

We are now 40nm North-West of the Butt of Lewis, with cold foggy conditions,
but still quite light even at midnight. We had to make a detour at 5:30
this morning, at the request of a pairof trawlers who asked us to clear
2.5nm to their stern. They were not on our AIS, and likewise called us up
by our position only, which indicates that they had spotted us on radar - a
good reason to be carrying our SeaMe active radar.

The penguins onboard are enjoying the colder weather that comes with these
northerly latitudes (but Trevor is not). We have reached an agreement with
"Skipper" - the scenic route to Antarctica via the Arctic circle. Just hope
he doesn't mutiny when we turn south at Muckle Flugga.

Richard