28|12|18
Cape to St Helena 2018 Day 3
Allo Guv’nas!
Same as it ever was, forwards and backwards…
“Able was I ere I saw Elba” allegedly muttered one Bonaparte, as he opened a crate of vinum, feeling completely detartrated after a long day plotting battles in his mind’s eye, while the seventh coalition quietly mustered.
Bounding headlong into an ocean escape, and straight back into the pound seats for just another 116 days, before an ultimate exile on another island in an immensely more remote part. Aye, St Helena, tattarrattat!
If you think the world is a crazy place today, you should check out Napoleon’s tales of domination and empire building; and of course, the flip side…
As the Cape to St Helena fleet now settles into a far more steady downwind gait, it’s of interest to regale that around 200 years ago, Napoléon Bonaparte spent his last days in exile in Chez Longwood on St Helena, from December in 1815 until his somewhat premature passing in May 1821, having been previously exiled to the small Mediterranean island of Elba in 1814 before escaping in early 1815.
Aboard the current monohull handicap leader, Naledi, Stefan Falcon is expressly looking forward to completing the palindromic circle, having previously embarked on a Napoléonic pilgrimage to Elba.
Overnight, the wind has moved through South as was predicted and this is clearly reflected in the left curving tracks of many in the fleet, as they were being lifted on port gybe and, quite possibly for safety reasons, were reluctant to gybe under the darkness of night. Most on the west side of the fleet have subsequently gybed on to starboard, with the exception of Avocet, who continues hard West and I presume will look to gybe over when the wind provides a hotter angle for their asymmetrical spinnaker set up. The big catamaran Ronin has certainly found her sea legs, and is progressing nicely up the eastern flank of the fleet.
The bulk of the fleet, with boats of various sizes, speed potentials and handicaps, are still grouped relatively closely together, which bodes well for their general safety and well-being.
Baby tri Banjo is pushing the zoom on the tracker as they slide off the top of the screen.
Sadly, the race is over for Hirondelle and Avanti, who have both hung up their boots and are safely tied up in harbour moorings…
This post will be updated as today’s projected results, onboard reporting, and any images come in.
Civic Madam Anna, singing solos in a racecar kayak, refer to the radar before the stats at noon.
Cape to St Helena 2018 is a sister race to the #Cape2Rio2020, which is supporting the race with a daily race update. Like|Love|Share!
#nowherebetter
#adventureofalifetime
by Luke Scott
