19kts on a 5 ton surf board

Surfing the waves at up to 19 kts on a 5 ton surf board in 20-30 kts of wind. Just another Bank Holiday weekend onboard Jangada Too in the RORC race to the Eddystone Light & back.

It was an exciting race with a quick windward leg to Eddystone, taking less than 22 hours to cover the 120nm. And as we rounded and headed home the A2 kite was soon exchanged for the brand new A4 heavy weather kite, fresh out the bag from North Sails. We were quickly impressed by how easy it was to handle as we built up speeds of over 16kts surfing the waves. But the highlight was seeing the log read over 19kts at one point.

The lowest moment was the look of despair on Jeremy's face as a lapse of concentration from me on the helm left the new kite firmly wrapped around the forestay. It seemed as though the game was suddenly over. But we held our nerve, gybe the main over and let mother nature do the rest.

The best moment was the look of disbelief on Jeremy's face as the kite started to unravel itself and pop open on the new gybe - the game was back on.

The return leg took 13 hours to cover the 110nm.

Final position 6th/29 in IRC3 and 7th/25 in the two-handed fleet. Were are very pleased with the result as we know we still have room to improve. And grateful to have completed the race without damage or major incident.