The somewhat diminished fleet of Class40’s are now in to their fourth week of racing in the Solidaire du Chocolat race from St Nazaire to Progreso in Mexico. Of the original 24 starters 15 remain racing with at least three of the racers having had to make pit stop repairs of one sort or another. Most if not all of the fleet have had a catalogue of mishaps minor damage, autopilot problems and continuous sail repairs. The first two weeks of this race were a largely grueling upwind slog through front after front and on their newly launched 40 Degrees Peter and Miranda were having their fair share of those challenges. Below are some extracts of the highlights of their trip to date: Tuesday 20th October ‘It was fortunate that we crossed the Cape Finisterre - Ushant shipping during the day yesterday, as that could have been a little exciting in the night. So, although we were spared something similar to crossing a motorway in horizontal rain and zero visibility, the autopilot chose the windiest and roughest couple of hours to misbehave, which did add a little excitement……………………
Thursday 29th October ‘Somewhat unoriginally, we are still going upwind, and if we're lucky, this will only last another two days. Of course it wouldn't be complete without yet another low pressure system - which looks like it will be our special Friday night treat. The autopilot went on strike before dawn (can't blame it, I am quite tempted to do the same), but fortunately is working again. It is deceptive on deck - dry for a while, and then tons of water washing over the boat every so often. We haven't seen much wildlife at all, though I did return a (live) squid to the sea - despite having soya sauce and wasabi on board……. Monday 2nd November ‘Yesterday the wind finally turned and we started making some real progress to our destination reaching at speeds between 10 and 17knts covering some 250 miles in the last 24hrs.The wind continued to back throughout the day and evening, finally giving us the sailing we all dream about. We're still wearing full foul weather gear as there is plenty of spray and water coming down the deck at these speeds. We missed out on the pyrotechnics last night as there was little build up of clouds in the day.Sadly a rather slow turtle will start the day with a headache after he was run over in the afternoon, and an hour or so later we collided with a large fish swimming lazily some 6-8ft long, at 14knts. When I looked behind he seemed ok but probably a little dazed……. Monday 9th November Apologies for the tardiness of this report. It has been yet another eventful day/ night/ day. Yesterday, we made it through the gate at St Barts, and carried on west in very little wind all day, and baking heat, trying to keep the boat going. In the second part of the night, a large cloud came over the area, and that was the end of the wind for a few hours, sails slatting in the swell, hugely frustrating especially when you think that you are the only boat being held captive. Eventually the wind filled in, and at dawn it was obviously a big squall system (see attached photo of evil cloud), which we rode for a while. Everything was going fine until a particularly active part got to us, complete with lightning, thunder and torrential rain. So, everything electrical switched off, just in case, and 30 knots of wind plus a big shift. Now we were flying at serious pace, well off course, riding before it. When we eventually got a lull to furl the gennaker, the sheets came off, which makes for a potentially very exciting scenario, with large sail on bowsprit minus control lines. I steered, and Peter went to the bow with boat hook and sail ties, and managed to drop the gennaker onto the boat. Back on track again, and just waiting for the next event... no Caribbean holiday, this............................... As of this morning 40Degrees was in seventh position having re-hoisted the much missed A2 spi that had been down below for repairs for a number of crucial days on the approach to St Barts. They're battling it out fnow or sixth place with the Chileans on Desafio Cabo de Hornos, it looks like this will be a closely fought battle to the finish as these two competitors are literally neck and neck, with a little over a 1000 miles still to go. It should make for an interesting final week as the fleet thread their way through the Caribbean Sea.
More information about our third generation Class 40's can be found by visiting the following news articles and main website pages:
Class 40 Racing Yacht Page
News Article 1
News Article 2
To enquire further about our latest Class 40 designs contact: class40@owenclarkedesign.com
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