Tuesday, April 12, 2011

Investment Not Providing Rewards Right Now

I’ve spent a great deal of time the last two weeks comparing weather models and strategically investing in owning the left side of the course. Unfortunately, the reasons I wanted to own it are not panning out. It is frustrating as I would like to have greater lead right now and I fear the weather is going to get really light and inconsistent. The bottom line is I have less wind than was forecast and they have more. So Derek is kicking my butt. While Chris is kicking Derek’s butt. It should all get very interesting as we make our way north. I have been doing a huge amount of sail changes to keep Le Pingouin moving and the girl is holding up well. I have the big gennaker and the main up right now and it is a bit scary. I am powered up and need to be careful. As much as I REALLY want to win this leg 4 ocean sprint into my home town of Charleston, I can’t compromise my race by pushing so hard that I break the boat.


I do think you are looking at two lucky dogs to my right. They both wanted the speed gate points and pushed hard to get them, while I disregarded the speed gate and focused on my positioning to get the best possible weather to reach Charleston first. As it turns out Derek and Chris have instead had better wind patterns for the last 24 hours, and I believe will continue to have better weather for the next 24 as well. We will see what I get handed, but right now I am not very happy about it. I am hoping as we reach up by the Bahamas the weather is not as quirky as it can be.

Congrats to Derek on winning the speed gate and my heart goes out to Gutek with broken ribs and a broken forestay in Brazil. Thanks for checking in and I look forward to seeing everyone in Charleston soon!

Cheers,

Brad