Atlantic Cup - GryphonSolo2 rockets northward

by Joe Harris on 14 May 2012 Atlantic Cup 2012, presented by 11th Hour Racing, first leg of the three stage race is underway. Joe Harris onboard GryphonSolo2 provides a progress update on the second day of racing.

As we rounded Cape Hatteras this morning (Sunday), I have to admit to feeling bummed out. We were mired back in the pack and things were not going particularly well. The race had been all upwind and the last 12 hours were very light air upwind sailing, which is not this boats strong suit. So as today dawned and we got our weather file, it became clear that we were going to get some great downwind sailing in the warm waters of the gulf stream, and yee-hah that is exactly what we are getting. We have been averaging about 12 knots of boat speed today but that has been augmented by the three knots of the northerly flowing gulfstream, so we are in hog heaven. A pod of 50-plus dolphins came by and cavorted with us as well, (swimming and jumping is their job - I hope to come back in my next life as a dolphin) so Tristan and I had our one-a-day Bud Light and toasted our good fortune. Life is a much better place downwind than upwind. We are rocketing northward as we speak and have moved up to fourth on the leaderboard and are looking forward to pushing hard to the finish in the next 24 to 48 hours. Sometimes you just gotta hang in there and something good will happen I guess. Maybe I'll attribute it to my high-fiber, low bullshit diet and patting stray dogs.

Break - more to follow from the crew of GS2.

Cheers
Joe Atlantic Cup Gryphonsolo2 website